Tag Archives: change in God’s law

MEMO TO JESUS

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 40:8

Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Matthew 5:17

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Memo to:       Jesus

Date:                    May 19, 2001

From:                   Board of Directors for the Church on Earth

RE:                         Management Style

Good Morning Jesus,

I hate to bring this up, but some of us in your church are uncomfortable with a few things you have said and we want to suggest a few changes in your management style.  Below are a few things we have documented (with references) to give you an idea of where we are coming from. Let’s start with your speech at the mountain. Here are your exact words as recorded by Matthew:

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-19

John also recorded this:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

“He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:4

“Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.” 1 John 2:7

We understand what you are saying, but we want to be sure your management style is  a little easier  and more in line with what everyone else is doing.  We feel your communications are a little narrow.  As a church, we don’t want to come across to our folks as legalistic and too strict. We want to respect the feelings of everyone.

Also, the board of directors have decided that your “commandments” are old school and actually no longer necessary since the culture of our church is focused on grace and, after all, we are living in the 21st century.  We also feel that since you have kept the commandments, there is no need to follow them as strictly as you did.  We appreciate your example, but we aren’t up to that kind of lifestyle.  Anyway, it is also our understanding that it is impossible to obey your laws and we are living under grace.  Therefore there is no need to obey any longer.

Therefore, please see the recommended changes below.  We will start with the 10 commandments below (in red).  Let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

  1. “You shall have no other gods before Me.  No big changes here.  It is OK. I see where you are coming from, but we should be careful to not offend anyone who may give all their time and attention to making money and accumulating things.  Also, their sports, music, and entertainment give them joy.  So we suggest we not be too strict and not make a big deal about it. These people still show up at church for an hour or two on the weekend.  That should be enough.
  2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor [b]serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting[c] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.  This has already been eliminated in the Catechism,  The church has statues, pictures, and things as part of their worship service.  Again, this commandment does not go along with what a majority are doing.  It’s not that big of a deal, they are not actually worshiping the image anyway.
  3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.  There should be an exception for those people in TV, movies, and people that are angry. We should also allow for people to use the word Jesus as an extension to an exclamation in a sentence.
  4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.  This should read: Go to church and worship every Sunday Everybody is busy on Saturdays to keep it holy even if it is in honor of your creation. Anyway, a majority of the people go to church on the  first day of the week in honor of your resurrection.   Although I can’t find this change in any of your writings, I am certain that tradition carries enough weight to make this change. Most have already changed it anyway.  Their thinking is this is for the Jews only even though the Sabbath was instituted long before there was a Jew.  Isn’t it legalistic to honor a whole day anyway? 
  5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. An exception should be made if they don’t live up to your expectations or hurt you in any way.  Maybe they could donate some money to avoid having to follow this one.  
  6. “You shall not murder.  This is a good one. Again an exception should be made for a child not yet born who is not wanted and is an inconvenience to the mother and father.
  7. “You shall not commit adultery. Of course,  if people are living together this is not applicable because that is what everyone is doing anyway.  Should this apply also to the same-sex couple? Oh yes, we forgot to let you know that we have determined that one woman and one man for marriage doesn’t fit today’s society.  We don’t want to exclude anyone, so we took the liberty to allow marriage between the same-sex.  I am sure you understand.
  8. “You shall not steal. Again a good rule, but let’s allow for situations where stealing is necessary for survival or if they really want something and don’t have enough money to buy it.
  9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Unless the situation calls for it where telling the truth will get someone in trouble. Again, we should consider the situation.
  10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” This is definitely old school. Who has an ox, a donkey, or a servant?  People want what other people have. It gives them the drive to accumulate as much as one can possibly obtain to be happy.

Jesus, we know you will understand.  Thank you for efforts to change our hearts, but some feel very comfortable in their weekly routines of simply showing up for church and being nice to people.

Respectfully Yours,

The church board of directors

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As crazy as this memo sounds, this is exactly what is happening in both the world and, sadly, in many churches.  While we know that faith in the death and resurrection of Christ saves us, it does not give us the authority to change one sentence in His eternal law.  How would Jesus respond to this?  How about Peter James and John?

Jesus: “And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:7

Paul: Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. ” Romans 3:31

John: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12

James:  be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ..For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty James 1:22, 2: 10-22

Solomon: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13

Reformation 500 Years-Impending Conflict

The reformation started when God’s word was discovered and read.  It was the express purpose of the Roman Catholic church’s leadership to keep the Bible out of the hands and minds of the people and to keep them in darkness and ignorance…hence the term “Dark Ages.”.   As we have seen they persecuted and killed those who taught against the tradition and power of the apostate church. The persecution of those who proclaim Sola Scriptura will continue on past the 500-year anniversary this October 31, 2017.

The final conflict in the great controversy between Christ and Satan will be over the law of God.  This is easily understood from God’s word as John saw our future from the Isle of Patmos.  Satan’s wrath turns directly to those who follow Jesus as shown by their obedience and testimony of Him. Notice the two parties involved in the conflict.

And the dragon (Satan) was wroth with the woman (the church or body of believers) and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 12:17

Here in the final events of the last day, Satan is angry at those who uphold all of God’s commandments and follow the will of God by obeying….Not in order to be saved, but because they are born again and follow (obey) the Lamb.

There is a general misconception that Moses wrote the ten commandments but listen closely to the word of God. God wrote them with his own finger and delivered them in stone to Moses.

And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

Exodus 31:18

Another wrong idea about the law of God is that the 10 commandments are no longer “binding” on anyone especially Christians who proclaim they are saved by grace through faith, therefore the 10 commandments are made void. They claim He changed the law

 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5: 17-19

Does this include the 4th commandment?  it is the most misunderstood and ignored commandment of the 10.  God in his wisdom knew that we would get so busy, that we would need rest and time to remember the Creator and His work. Those who would seek to benefit from the blessing of rest in God are sometimes ridiculed.  The modern protestant church’s fall into the lie of the Roman Catholic church that this blessed day was changed from Saturday to Sunday. History has demonstrated it was not the disciples who changed the solemnity from the 7th day of the week to the first day of the….it was the papacy…(See *end note:)

Is it not clear that Jesus’ fulfilling of the law does not do away with it?  Heaven and earth have not passed away.  Not one jot or title (the smallest of letters or markings) of the 10 commandments will ever change.  Christ fulfilled the ceremonial and sacrificial laws as the lamb slain for the sins of the world. But, this does not mean that the moral law is somehow void or changed.  Nor does a life of faith void God’s letter of the law:

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Romans 3:31

No wonder Satan is mad at those who would keep the commandments of God! They express the will of God.

The protestors of the 16th century knew the importance of the law of God and the scripture.  It pointed out the errors of the Roman Catholic church and do so even today. Are their any reformers today willing to stand up and say Sola Scriptura?

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From the Great Controversy starting on page 582

From the very beginning of the great controversy in heaven, it has been Satan’s purpose to overthrow the law of God. It was to accomplish this that he entered upon his rebellion against the Creator, and though he was cast out of heaven he has continued the same warfare upon the earth. To deceive men, and thus lead them to transgress God’s law, is the object which he has steadfastly pursued. Whether this be accomplished by casting aside the law altogether, or by rejecting one of its precepts, the result will be ultimately the same. He that offends “in one point,” manifests contempt for the whole law; his influence and example are on the side of transgression; he becomes “guilty of all.” James 2:10.

In seeking to cast contempt upon the divine statutes, Satan has perverted the doctrines of the Bible, and errors have thus become incorporated into the faith of thousands who profess to believe the Scriptures. The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we are now entering–a battle between the laws of men and the precepts of Jehovah, between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and tradition.

The agencies which will unite against truth and righteousness in this contest are now actively at work. God’s holy word, which has been handed down to us at such a cost of suffering and blood, is but little valued. The Bible is within the reach of all, but there are few who really accept it as the guide of life. Infidelity prevails to an alarming extent, not in the world merely, but in the church. Many have come to deny doctrines which are the very pillars of the Christian faith. The great facts of creation as presented by the inspired writers, the fall of man, the atonement, and the perpetuity of the law of God, are practically rejected, either wholly or in part, by a large share of the professedly Christian world. Thousands who pride themselves upon their wisdom and independence regard it as an evidence of weakness to place implicit confidence in the Bible; they think it a proof of superior talent and learning to cavil at the Scriptures and to spiritualize and explain away their most important truths. Many ministers are teaching their people, and many professors and teachers are instructing their students, that the law of God has been changed or abrogated; and those who regard its requirements as still valid, to be literally obeyed, are thought to be deserving only of ridicule or contempt.

In rejecting the truth, men reject its Author. In trampling upon the law of God, they deny the authority of the Law-giver. It is as easy to make an idol of false doctrines and theories as to fashion an idol of wood or stone. By misrepresenting the attributes of God, Satan leads men to conceive of Him in a false character. With many, a philosophical idol is enthroned in the place of Jehovah; while the living God, as He is revealed in His word, in Christ, and in the works of creation, is worshiped by but few. Thousands deify nature while they deny the God of nature. Though in a different form, idolatry exists in the Christian world today as verily as it existed among ancient Israel in the days of Elijah. The god of many professedly wise men, of philosophers, poets, politicians, journalists–the god of polished fashionable circles, of many colleges and universities, even of some theological institutions–is little better than Baal, the sun-god of Phoenicia.No error accepted by the Christian world strikes more boldly against the authority of Heaven, none is more directly opposed to the dictates of reason, none is more pernicious in its results, than the modern doctrine, so rapidly gaining ground, that God’s law is no longer binding upon men. Every nation has its laws, which command respect and obedience; no government could exist without them; and can it be conceived that the Creator of the heavens and the earth has no law to govern the beings He has made? Suppose that prominent ministers were publicly to teach that the statutes which govern their land and protect the rights of its citizens were not obligatory–that they restricted the liberties of the people, and therefore ought not to be obeyed; how long would such men be tolerated in the pulpit? But is it a graver offense to disregard the laws of states and nations than to trample upon those divine precepts which are the foundation of all government?

It would be far more consistent for nations to abolish their statutes, and permit the people to do as they please, than for the Ruler of the universe to annul His law, and leave the world without a standard to condemn the guilty or justify the obedient. Would we know the result of making void the law of God? The experiment has been tried. Terrible were the scenes enacted in France when atheism became the controlling power. It was then demonstrated to the world that to throw off the restraints which God has imposed is to accept the rule of the cruelest of tyrants. When the standard of righteousness is set aside, the way is open for the prince of evil to establish his power in the earth.

Wherever the divine precepts are rejected, sin ceases to appear sinful or righteousness desirable. Those who refuse to submit to the government of God are wholly unfitted to govern themselves. Through their pernicious teachings the spirit of insubordination is implanted in the hearts of children and youth, who are naturally impatient of control; and a lawless, licentious state of society results. While scoffing at the credulity of those who obey the requirements of God, the multitudes eagerly accept the delusions of Satan. They give the rein to lust and practice the sins which have called down judgments upon the heathen.

Those who teach the people to regard lightly the commandments of God sow disobedience to reap disobedience. Let the restraint imposed by the divine law be wholly cast aside, and human laws would soon be disregarded. Because God forbids dishonest practices, coveting, lying, and defrauding, men are ready to trample upon His statutes as a hindrance to their worldly prosperity; but the results of banishing these precepts would be such as they do not anticipate. If the law were not binding, why should any fear to transgress? Property would no longer be safe. Men would obtain their neighbor’s possessions by violence, and the strongest would become richest. Life itself would not be respected. The marriage vow would no longer stand as a sacred bulwark to protect the family. He who had the power, would, if he desired, take his neighbor’s wife by violence. The fifth commandment would be set aside with the fourth. Children would not shrink from taking the life of their parents if by so doing they could obtain the desire of their corrupt hearts. The civilized world would become a horde of robbers and assassins; and peace, rest, and happiness would be banished from the earth.

Already the doctrine that men are released from obedience to God’s requirements has weakened the force of moral obligation and opened the floodgates of iniquity upon the world. Lawlessness, dissipation, and corruption are sweeping in upon us like an overwhelming tide. In the family, Satan is at work. His banner waves, even in professedly Christian households. There is envy, evil surmising, hypocrisy, estrangement, emulation, strife, betrayal of sacred trusts, indulgence of lust. The whole system of religious principles and doctrines, which should form the foundation and framework of social life, seems to be a tottering mass, ready to fall to ruin. The vilest of criminals, when thrown into prison for their offenses, are often made the recipients of gifts and attentions as if they had attained an enviable distinction. Great publicity is given to their character and crimes. The press publishes the revolting details of vice, thus initiating others into the practice of fraud, robbery, and murder; and Satan exults in the success of his hellish schemes. The infatuation of vice, the wanton taking of life, the terrible increase of intemperance and iniquity of every order and degree, should arouse all who fear God, to inquire what can be done to stay the tide of evil.

Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated by desire for gain and love of sensual pleasure. Intemperance has beclouded the faculties of many so that Satan has almost complete control of them. Jurists are perverted, bribed, deluded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy, dishonesty of every sort, are represented among those who administer the laws. “Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” Isaiah 59:14.

The iniquity and spiritual darkness that prevailed under the supremacy of Rome were the inevitable result of her suppression of the Scriptures;…

The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism. Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.

Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing the diseases of the people, and professing to present a new and more exalted system of religious faith; but at the same time he works as a destroyer. His temptations are leading multitudes to ruin. Intemperance dethrones reason; sensual indulgence, strife, and bloodshed follow. Satan delights in war, for it excites the worst passions of the soul and then sweeps into eternity its victims steeped in vice and blood. It is his object to incite the nations to war against one another, for he can thus divert the minds of the people from the work of preparation to stand in the day of God…

Satan’s policy in this final conflict with God’s people is the same that he employed in the opening of the great controversy in heaven. He professed to be seeking to promote the stability of the divine government, while secretly bending every effort to secure its overthrow. And the very work which he was thus endeavoring to accomplish he charged upon the loyal angels. The same policy of deception has marked the history of the Roman Church. It has professed to act as the vicegerent of Heaven, while seeking to exalt itself above God and to change His law. Under the rule of Rome, those who suffered death for their fidelity to the gospel were denounced as evildoers; they were declared to be in league with Satan; and every possible means was employed to cover them with reproach, to cause them to appear in the eyes of the people and even to themselves as the vilest of criminals. So it will be now. While Satan seeks to destroy those who honor God’s law, he will cause them to be accused as lawbreakers, as men who are dishonoring God and bringing judgments upon the world.

God never forces the will or the conscience; but Satan’s constant resort–to gain control of those whom he cannot otherwise seduce–is compulsion by cruelty. Through fear or force he endeavors to rule the conscience and to secure homage to himself. To accomplish this, he works through both religious and secular authorities, moving them to the enforcement of human laws in defiance of the law of God.

Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained of God. In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A false coloring will be given to their words; the worst construction will be put upon their motives.

As the Protestant churches reject the clear, Scriptural arguments in defense of God’s law, they will long to silence those whose faith they cannot overthrow by the Bible. Though they blind their own eyes to the fact, they are now adopting a course which will lead to the persecution of those who conscientiously refuse to do what the rest of the Christian world are doing, and acknowledge the claims of the papal sabbath.

The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected. In the soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophet’s words: “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.


*End note:

Papacy’s claim of changing  the day of worship from Sabbath  to Sunday:

In the Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, we read:

Q. Which is the Sabbath day?
A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea, (AD 336) transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday….
Q. Why did the Catholic Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday, because Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday.
Q. By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her!
—Rev. Peter Geiermann, C.SS.R., (1946), p. 50.