THE position of CWM and VANGUARD on both seventh and first day keeping is as expressed by Paul the apostle in Romans chapter 14, verses 5&6 "One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regards the day, regards it to the Lord; and he that does not regard the day, to the Lord he does not regard it."
Some argue that this relates only to ceremonial days and not to the weekly sabbath, but there is no evidence for such a conclusion. Paul makes no such distinction.

We find an increasing number of current and previous Seventh Day Adventists are part of our readership and from time to time the topic comes up in correspondence and in our meetings. In view of this and because the topic is of interest generally we have decided to publish the following debate. You be the judge!

About the two participants:

CAPTAIN Harry Martin is the Founder of The Gospel Navy, which has its headquarters in Orlando, Florida, USA. This Church was founded on September 11, 1997 to help rescue the lost and unchurched through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to witness the love of Jesus Christ to the less fortunate. Captain Martin is the author of a number of books including, "What A Friend We Have In JESUS," "What Blind People Wish Sighted People Knew About Blindness," and the soon to be released, "God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It."

Captain Martin is totally blind as the result of injuries received while serving in the U.S. Navy. In addition to his work with The Gospel Navy, he devotes time to advocacy work for the blind and visually impaired. He may be contacted at his address listed below or through his web site or by email as follows:

GOSPEL NAVY WEBSITE:
<http://www.gospelnavy.com.homestudy.html>

E-mail at HYPERLINK <Gospelnavy@aol.com>

DEAN Edward Flanders is a classic Pentecostal who was saved on July 16, 1970 in a Church of God in the USA. He has served as a full time Youth Minister, Evangelist, Associate pastor-teacher, administrator, and radio host among other things. Dean is 47 years old and married for 20 years to his first and only wife, Cheri. They have 2 young children.

Dean is self educated in theology and Church History and now lives in Tennessee, where among other things he has conducted an email, internet, and printed literature distribution ministry in defence of THE faith of orthodoxy for the past more than eight years. He and his associates Richard Engstrom and Kevin Burge hold themselves available to help with any genuine inquiries regarding Christianity. They advertise a book titled "THE GREAT DREAM (The Great And Final Apostasy Of Christendom, Described)", which has so far not been published in hard print, but which is available on the INTERNET or in manuscript form through the postal mail. He and his associates may be reached at:

Email: <tgd@multipro.com > or <kcburge@multipro.com>
The Great Dream Web Sites: URLs --- <http://www.apostasynow.com/tgd/index.html > <http://users.multipro.com/tgd/index.html>

THE QUESTION UNDER CONSIDERATION:

Does the New Testament either advise or command Christians to observe any particular day of the week as a sabbath?

Dean Flanders says NO
Captain Martin says YES

RULES OF THE DEBATE:

Each contestant supplies 6 Scripture quotations, no longer than 6 verses each, which he contends will prove his doctrine without any additional commentary or explanation from himself.
The contestants will be allowed approximately 200 words of commentary on each of the Scripture quotations supplied by his opponent. This limit may be averaged in the entire discourse. Dean may NOT comment on his own Scriptures, and Martin may NOT comment on his own Scriptures.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS FORMAT is to reveal which position is best supported by unembellished Bible quotations.

THE PREMISE OF THIS FORMAT is that whatever doctrine cannot be plainly demonstrated by unembellished Bible quotations does not have the support of the Bible.
In other words, if the Bible CAN'T SAY IT FOR YOU without your explanations, the Bible wasn't saying what you want it to say.

Dean Flanders says that these six Scripture passages prove that Christians are neither advised nor commanded to observe any particular day of the week as a "Sabbath". (Comments against this view supplied by Captain Martin).

Luke 16:16—"The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it."

COMMENTARY BY MARTIN:

Here Mr Flanders does what so many people do when trying to prove a point. They use a text, out of context, to prove it. Luke 16:16 is used to prove that the law and the prophets were until John, and then no more.

Yet, verse 17 makes it clear this is not what is being said. Verse 17 says, "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." As of our day, heaven and earth have not passed away, and subsequent to that, not one tittle of the law has failed. By his use of verse 16, Mr Flanders claims "the law" in its entirety. Yet, in other parts of his challenge he specifically states nine of the ten remain. Which is it, Mr Flanders, was the law until John, or not? He disproves his own use of this text in this context.

Galatians 4:9-11—"But now, after that you have known God, or rather are known of God, how do you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, where you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have laboured over you in vain."

COMMENTARY BY MARTIN:

Mr Flanders gives us a text, and we are to take at face value that the Apostle is telling us we are not to return to the law, or to the Sabbath.

Is this what the Apostle is saying here? Let us let the Apostle speak for himself on this matter. He wrote: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid, we establish the law." —Romans 3:31. In Romans 6:14-15, Paul makes the point that we are not to sin because we are saved by grace. In Romans 3:31 he makes it clear that faith, like grace, does not make void the law. In the verses given by Mr Flanders, Paul is warning believers against returning to the ceremonial law and its practices, all of which pointed to the Cross. Once Jesus died as our sacrifice on the cross, these practices no longer had any purpose. And any Christian who did not understand this concerned Paul. His stand that the law was not made void proves it was not the Ten Commandment law Paul was speaking of in Galatians 4:9-11

Romans 14:4-6—"Who are you that judges another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Yes, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regards the day, regards it to the Lord; and he that regards not the day, to the Lord he does not regard it. He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks."

COMMENTARY BY MARTIN:

Again, Mr Flanders confuses Paul dealing with an issue of the Ceremonial Law, and makes it into an issue of God's Eternal Ten Commandment Law. Is Paul telling people they need not keep a specific Sabbath day, as Mr Flanders would debate? If we believe what Mr Flanders would have us to believe, we must accept that the Apostles did not obey the teachings of Jesus. Jesus taught, in Matthew 19:16-1: "And behold, one came and said to Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And He said to him, Why call Me good? There is none good but One, that is, God: but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments." Are you, Mr Flanders, suggesting the Apostles taught we need not keep the commandments as Jesus taught we should?

Colossians 2:16-17—"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."

COMMENTARY BY MARTIN:

Here we have a clear indicator of which law is being spoken of. "Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is Christ." The Ceremonial laws are the law which pointed to the coming of Jesus Christ to be our sacrificial lamb. This is not referring to the Ten Commandment law, but to the feast days, ceremonial Sabbaths, and sacrifices.

Hebrews 7:12—"For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law."

COMMENTARY BY MARTIN:

Again, Mr Flanders makes the mistake a third time. He confuses the changes in the Ceremonial law for changes in God's Eternal Ten Commandment Law. He would have us believe that when the sacrifices, feast days, and ceremonial Sabbaths came to an end, that God just threw out the fourth commandment for good measure as well. Yet, the Psalmist made it clear God's Law is eternal. Psalm 111:7-8.

John 5:16-19—"Therefore the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father works until now, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for whatever he does, these also does the Son likewise."

COMMENTARY BY MARTIN:

Mr Flanders here debates that the only person who ever lived a sinless life, sinned by breaking the fourth commandment. Or, that the law was no longer in effect, and therefore could not be broken. Which position is it you take, Mr Flanders? We know the Ten Commandments were still in effect because Jesus said to keep them (Matthew 19:16-17). We know Jesus never broke a single commandment because the Bible teaches sin is transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). We know Paul taught the law was still in effect because he said so in Romans 7:7. And we know it was the Ten Commandment law he was talking about because he used one of the Ten Commandments as his example, "You shall not covet." He also makes a similar point in Romans 3:20. Jesus did not break the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments. He violated one or more of the burdensome rules added by man, rules God never stipulated in the fourth commandment. No, Mr Flanders, Jesus is not a common sinner. And the Ten Commandment law is not done away with.

Captain Martin says that these six Scripture quotations prove that Christians are advised and/or commanded to observe a Saturday Sabbath. (Comments against this view supplied by Dean Flanders.)

Exodus 20:8-11—"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work: But the seventh day [is] the Sabbath of the LORD your God: [in it] you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that [is] within your gates: For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

COMMENTARY BY DEAN:

But since there is no record of any Sabbath regulations being commanded or observed from Adam to Moses, it is necessary to presume that this must not have been a perpetual ordinance for the human race.

Surely, if the prohibition against "work" on the 7th day of the week had any eternal moral equivalence to "You shall not steal", or "make no idols", there would be some reference to it in the 2500 years between Adam and Moses. Conflicts over theft, adultery, murder and idolatry abound before Moses: but no conflicts over any 7th Day Sabbath.

One who wishes to assert that Sabbath observance is a perpetual law for the human race must then give account for why the pre-Mosaic saints neither commanded nor observed any 7th day Sabbath, and for why God never spoke to them about it.

1 John 2:3—"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."

COMMENTARY BY DEAN:

But since the "he" in this verse is Jesus Christ, it is the commandments of Jesus Christ that we are here told to keep: not the Law of Moses. Jesus Christ makes a list of things that defile a man in Mark 7:21-23; and these harmonise with compliance to nine of the original Ten Commandments; but nowhere does Jesus tell any of His OWN disciples that they must or should observe the Sabbath.

Hebrews 4:4-9—"For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh [day] in this way, and God rested on the seventh day from all his works. And in this [place] again, if they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remains that some must enter there, and they to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of unbelief: Again, he limits a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. Therefore there remains a rest for the people of God."

COMMENTARY BY DEAN:

There is nothing in Hebrews chapters 3 & 4 which affirms, commands, or recommends Christians to the observance of the fourth Commandment. That the Saturday Sabbath is not the subject of these passages is made obvious if you continue for just two more verses.

Heb 4:10-11—" For he that has entered into his rest, he has also ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."

The "rest" described here is a STATE OF BEING, and not just for one day of the week. Just as Jesus "fulfilled" (Grk. completed; filled out) the commandment about adultery by saying that anyone who looks to lust has committed adultery, the Sabbath—rest of faithful Christians, is that state in which they NO LONGER "Labour for the meat which perishes" (John 6:27) ON ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. It is therefore necessary to conclude that those who assert that we must rest on the 7th day, are making the 7th day an exception to the routine of their lives, and they are therefore labouring for the meat which perishes 6 days of the week (that is, serving mammon); in clear contradiction to the command of Jesus Christ. The fact that so few professing Christians have had the faith or the courage to achieve the "rest" (Matt.11:28-29) that Christ and Christianity offer us, does not "make the promise of none effect" for those who trust and obey.

Exodus 31:13—"Speak thou also to the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths you shall keep: for it [is] a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that [you] may know that I [am] the LORD that sanctifies you."

COMMENTARY BY DEAN:

The command here is to the Jews and their proselytes only. There is no such command issued to Christians. On the contrary, when some tried to introduce Jewish observances into The Church, the Apostles convened a counsel, and unanimously produced this: "Inasmuch as we have heard,

that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, You must be circumcised, and keep the law: TO WHOM WE GAVE NO SUCH COMMANDMENT....For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that you abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if you keep yourselves, you shall do well" (Acts 15:24-29).
What is conspicuous to me here, is that while they thought it necessary to reinstate the prohibition against eating things strangled and from eating blood, both of which strike us as relatively peripheral issues, they made no mention of Sabbath observance. Since the main charge made against Jesus by His enemies was that He was breaking the Sabbath, this would have been one of the main slanders levelled against the New Church: but yet, none of the apostles ever tells anyone to "Remember the Sabbath". The disciples could "do well" without observing the Sabbath.

Romans 9:6-8—"Not as though the word of God failed. For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abra-ham, [are they] all children: but, In Isaac shall your seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the child-ren of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed."

COMMENTARY BY DEAN:
God made no arrangements with Abraham concerning any Sabbath observance. God never even mentions any "Sabbath" to Abraham.

Mark 2:27-28—"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."

COMMENTARY BY DEAN:

The crux of the matter is here: the Sabbath was instituted to prevent one Jew from working another to death (The Sabbath was made FOR man), and as a prophetic sign of the age to come: not to perpetuate special religious devotions on one day above the rest.

We do retain the RIGHT to "take a day off" according to Paul, as quoted above in Romans 14:4-5, but not to make Saturday Sabbath observance into a law for The Church.

There is no doubt about it: Jesus changed the way we receive the Mosaic Sabbath law when He and His disciples went through the field and picked corn to eat (Mark 2:23). This is the same thing as "harvesting", and the fact that seconds, rather then hours or days elapsed between the picking and the eating does not make this any less a violation of the Mosaic Law.

The Saturday Sabbath Law is still in continuance for those who claim to be Jews under the Old Covenant, but has nothing to do with Christians. "Behold, the day is coming, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel, and the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt" Jer 31:31-32

(END OF THE DEBATE:)

The question before you witnesses is simple: Which position is best supported by the New Testament? Are Christians advised or commanded to observe a Saturday Sabbath Day in the Church Age or not?

Appeared in Volume 5.1 March/April 1999