Bootstrap wrote:Like Ernie, I think the teachings of Jesus represent a New Covenant. What Jesus said and did is centrally important for all Christians. And the parts of the Old Covenant that matter for us are the ones that Jesus, Paul, and others affirmed in the New Covenant.
How do you read the book of Galatians on this?
My initial response is:
So does Jesus affirm the Sabbath in the New Covenant by teaching about what were acceptable Sabbath day practices (like healing and doing good)?
However, read on for further thoughts of mine on the subject in response to your question.
I read the situation in Galatia as follows: there were Judaizers that were telling the Galatian Gentile believers that they had to be circumcised in order to be justified. Paul counters by saying that it is only through faith in Christ that we can be justified. The law wasn't intended to free people from sin but to make them aware of sin. When we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, he frees us from our slavery to sin and we die to the law and are made alive in the Spirit. When we are living completely in the Spirit, we are no longer under the law and no longer have to observe days and months and seasons and years (which probably includes the Sabbath day). Yet, if we use our freedom from the law to gratify the flesh and pursue fleshly desires, we will lose our status of being justified and our inheritance in the Kingdom of God.
I think Paul envisions true faith as one that will, in a sense, automatically fulfill all the requirements of the moral law through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. I don't think Paul ever envisions Christianity as a freedom from the law so that we are free to live a life of sin and still inherit the Kingdom. He seemed to be fighting against those who put the cart before the horse and were promoting justification through a self-righteous observance of the law by one's own power, rather than recognition that only faith in Christ can free us from slavery to sin, that same faith which, empowered by the Holy Spirit, causes us to fulfill the moral requirements of the law through loving your neighbor as yourself.
I do wonder, however, if Jesus's teachings were pointing toward a different understanding of the Sabbath similar to Hebrews 4:9, which seems to picture the Sabbath as an eternal rest that we are encouraged to strive to enter into. Perhaps, Sabbath, as part of the law, which was a guardian and tutor, was there to paint the picture of the rest that we will one day enjoy eternally in heaven. If that is the case, I would hate to say that we Christians no longer observe the Sabbath, but rather I would want to say that our Sabbath day of rest is waiting for us when we get to heaven. Just as the sacrificial system pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, perhaps the Sabbath day pointed to the eternal Sabbath rest we Christians will enjoy in heaven, and I do look forward to observing that time of rest.
Good question, Boot. It really helped me to think through this issue for myself. However, I would welcome feedback and critique of what I have shared in this post.