Thursday, October 27, 2016

An expanded meaning of "ceremonial law"

The next item on the list of findings about feast keeping by the author of Feast-Keeping and the Faithful is his quoting of the book, Seventh-day Adventists Believe:
2) The standard SDA book, Seventh-day Adventists Believe, repeatedly confirms that, "At the death of Christ the jurisdiction of ceremonial law came to an end. His atoning sacrifice provided forgiveness for all sins. This act ‘wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross’ (Col. 2:14; cf. Deut. 31:26). . . . No more worries about the ceremonial laws, with their complex requirements regarding food and drink offerings, celebrations of various festivals (Passover, Pentecost, etc.), new moons, or ceremonial Sabbaths (Col. 2:16; cf. Heb. 9:10), which were only a ‘shadow of things to come’ (Col. 2:17). . . . [These were things] which pointed forward to the coming of the Messiah, and the observance of which terminated with His death on the cross” (pp. 274, 285). In a nutshell, Adventists do not keep the feasts.
I've referred to all of these comments in previous posts. The book, Seventh-day Adventists Believe, does not supersede the Bible, and Adventists would believe that it does not supersede the inspiration of Ellen White. The book gives an expanded meaning to the term "ceremonial law," a term that is not scriptural. As such, the term is left for us to define.  

Ellen White defines ceremonial law as the Jewish rites and ceremonies (see previous post); "ceremonial law" does not refer to the sabbath days on God's annual calendar. The Holy Days can be observed as sabbaths without the addition of sacrifice, since Jesus' death caused "the sacrifice and oblation to cease." Daniel 9:27. The rites and ceremonies are never again referred to as being kept in the early Christian church; however, the observance of the Holy Days are referred to several times in the New Testament. Besides Scripture, historical documents exist that show the church kept those days in the early centuries following Christ. If they were done away with, they would not be keeping them in the various parts of the world to which they were scattered.

Am I being presumptuous, to feel myself an extension of Tyndale's plowboy, able to hold the Scriptures in my hands and read for myself? Do I have to have a degree and read from the works of a multitude of scholars in order to know what it says? I don't believe God gave that requirement for an understanding of His word. I am not an anti-theologian snob who ignores what the scholars have to say, but I must say that I believe their focus on academia and scholarly approaches to Bible study limits their understanding (not to mention their heart), and perhaps all they depend on is their advanced knowledge and their ability to prove their point -- when it may not be God's point.

Colossians 2 is clearly misunderstood by many people, when a straight reading of the passage makes it plain. My plain reading is spelled out in previous posts. Your plain reading may differ, but it's worth a close look, without the trappings of tradition, to determine for yourself what it really says.

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