I am writing in response to the letter to the editor from Leanne Lathem on April 9, titled, “Keeping the Sabbath Holy.” I too am proud to be a citizen of Cullman County. As a child living in Birmingham, I would visit my uncle in the summer months. I learned to love Cullman then and was determined to live here. I have lived in Cullman County since I was discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1946.
I too am disturbed by the many recreational games being played on Sunday, the Lord’s day. There is no guarantee that parents will take their children to church even if they do not take them to the ballfields, but the chances would be better.
Old fashioned is good in many ways, especially when it comes to morals. There are some new fashioned ways being taught and practiced today that are ruining our nation.
The part of her letter to which I disagree with concerns the Seventh-Day Sabbath and Bible teachings remaining the same throughout the ages. It is true that Bible teachings on morals have not changed, neither have the teachings of the New Testament. But remembering the Sabbath Day to keep it holy has changed. The nation of Israel observed the Seventh-Day Sabbath; Christians observe the first day of the week as their day of worship.
It is a geographical impossibility for all men in all countries to keep the same Sabbath. The Law of Moses that governed the Jews was a national law and restricted to one time zone, so they could observe the same Sabbath. The Gospel is a universal law and is not restricted to one time zone, so Christians are not obligated to keep the same first day of the week. No one today, not even the Jews, can fully keep the Law of Moses because of the Law’s demands that cannot be obeyed anywhere but Jerusalem.
Let us look at the following chart:
The Promises: No Sabbath command, no Sabbath example, no Sabbath penalty (2,500 years).
The Laws: The Sabbath command, the Sabbath example, the Sabbath penalty (1,500 years).
The Gospel: No Sabbath command, no Sabbath example, no Sabbath penalty (2,000 years).
Remember that the penalty for violating the Seventh-Day Sabbath was death. The penalty was just as binding as the command to keep the Sabbath holy.
Ellis Baker
Cullman
