Monday, June 25, 2001
Brother K. Phillip
Servant of God
Jehovah-shammah
4 Church Lane, Ritherdon Road, Vepery
Chennia-600 007
Dear Uncle,
SUBJECT: The fear of falling short of entering His rest
Greetings in Jesus precious name.
I am writing this letter as a follow up to the one I wrote you on April 7-20, 2001 on the subject of, "Why I don’t keep the 7th day Sabbath now." The question I asked you in that letter is: "Is not entering into the rest (7th day Sabbath) set before us, a fruit of our salvation? Or do you see Sunday incorporation as that fruit, thus meeting the Sabbath requirement of the Law? To this you said that we have received rest for our souls by believing in Jesus Christ. You meant by that, "Sunday is not a Sabbath day for us. We don’t need a day as a Sabbath rest day. The Sabbath is done away with."
I agree with you wholeheartedly that Sunday cannot be substituted for the Sabbath, because by setting up Sunday as a Sabbath we would be setting up an idol for ourselves. This is so because God consecrated the 7th day and not the 1st (Exodus 20:11 – "…Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.")
Last evening Brother Sam Williams delivered the Gospel message from John 5:1-16 here at Rehoboth. I enjoyed listening to it except for the fact that he said that Jesus had put an end to the Sabbath. After the service, i reasoned with him referencing Matthew 12:12 ("It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.") Here Christ is teaching the right observance of the Sabbath Commandment in contrast to the Talmud teachings. The Sabbath is still in force even to us who are grafted to the same vine. The Law is perfect, only we are not. Christ came not to abolish the Law but to fulfil it. Fulfil means He filled the Law to its full. He is the end of the Law, not end to the Law. That is, He is the last chapter of the Law. The Law is now given to us to keep it, even to us gentiles. We will be judged by the same Law as it is the same Law that is written on the heart for a Gentile, and written on stone (mind) for the Jew (Romans 2:14,15). There is no excuse because we can freely have all our past sins washed by the blood of Jesus Christ at justification when we are fully conscious of our sins, and then get the help of the Holy Spirit and bear fruit, thus continue to meet the requirements of the Law in sanctification (i.e. to keep the Law which is perfect and be saved -- Matthew 19:26). Faith that manifested itself in the form of belief in the finished work of Jesus Christ at justification now manifests itself in the form of good works (love) during sanctification. Now, to love is to keep the Commandments of God with all our heart, with all our mind and with all our strength.
Unfortunately my reasoning was not in good taste and i was asked to find solace with the 7th Day Adventist church. I feel sorry that the brother feels there is no need for me in the church.
The Sabbath is not a mere blessing of rest that we enjoy but a requirement that must be satisfied by us, for it is a Commandment. It was appointed to the first man and woman to rest on the 7th day, rest in God. It is appointed to us also, who believe in God’s creation work and His 7th day rest, to enter into that same 7th day rest (Leviticus 23:1). Thereby testifying about the creator and His work, praising Him who raised us up out of dust by creating power and praying to Him who created us anew by the Spirit of grace through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, for sustenance through sanctification unto salvation and restoration of all things, by which faith we find rest for our souls. "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest [for we have believed in the Gospel preached to us], so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience" (Hebrew 4:11 NIV paraphrased).
It is dreadful to seem to fall short (Hebrews 4:1) and much more to really fall short. The only way to prevent such a disappointment is to be vigilant and fearful, not being presumptuous.
My greetings to all the elders and deacons of the church at Jehovah-shammah. Please pray about the "care" ministry that God has called me into. Praise be to God. Amen!
Lovingly, in Him,
Caleb Suresh Motupalli.
CC:
Brother Sam Williams
Brother Epaphras Goghle, Servant of God at Rehoboth