When is it a good idea to stay at home and do church? I have been asking myself this question a lot lately because of how my faith perspective has changed. My eclectic views don't necessarily fit in well anywhere. I am still a very conservative born again Christian, but going to church on Sunday doesn't satisfy me because I believe we should be keeping a Saturday Sabbath. I could attend on both days, but for some reason Sunday Christians seem to preach a lot on how keeping Torah is wrong and how Jesus did away with the keeping of the so-called ceremonial laws. One woman, while sharing at the pulpit, even called the keeping of the Law bondage and we had been freed from that. However, this flies in the face of Paul's understanding of the Law in Romans and John's in 1 John.
Romans 7:12 (KJV)
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Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
1 John 5:3 (KJV)
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For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
I could also attend a Messianic congregation on Saturdays, but I object to the use of Contemporary Christian music. It is, in my mind, the blending of the holy with the profane, as spoken of in 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 (KJV)
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Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
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And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
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And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
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Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
I also recognize the important of gathering together in corporate worship.
Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)
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Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
So what should I do? For right now my son and I are worshiping at home together, but I'm hoping that I will find something that will work eventually. What do you think?
I hope I can help with a few words of encouragement. The Bible is very clear on all your concerns, and I'll try to do justice to God's Word by not stating something that's not there. Romans 14:5-6 says that there are no days that are more special than any other days. What's important is that we give all days, regardless of what they're used for, over to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 10:31 states that we are to do all things to the glory of God. That includes our worship of Him. A thought question would be whether all worship glorifies Him. Matthew 15:9 states that the answer is no. Many worship God in vain. God has told us how He wants to be worshiped, and Hebrews 10:25 states that part of our worship needs to be with other believers. As far as a Saturday Sabbath, after the death of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul and the rest of the early church came together to worship on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Believers gathering to worship God on Sunday has been the pattern ever since. A house church is a great choice in certain situations, but there are also many limitations. 1 Corinthians 11:3; 14:33-35, states that only a man, in a proper relationship with God, can be the leader of a house church. Anything else would not constitute a church at all. Also, there have to be at least two believers, both baptized, both members, in order to constitute a house church. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 would be a great passage to look at for some of the requirements of being a qualified, God honoring pastor.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Law is concerned, it is Holy and perfect. Being that it came from God, there is no fault to be found in it (Psalm 19:7). The issue is that the Law cannot be perfectly followed by sinful mankind. In Romans 3:20 it says that the Law can justify no one. The Mosaic Law was one of blessing and cursing. This was done away with when Jesus fulfilled the Law by living a perfect life. Because He fulfilled the Law, the Law no longer enslaves us to the requirement of being perfect ourselves. Following this logic, if we accept that God's grace, because of the sacrifice of Christ, removes our requirement to be perfect under the Law (Ephesians 2:8,9; Galatians 3:10), we have to accept that the Old Testament Law is fulfilled. His perfect life and sacrificial death accomplished all the Law, not bits and pieces. Romans 10:4 states that the Law is ended because Christ accomplished the purpose of the Law. What was the purpose of the Law, to show us our sin (Romans 3:19-24). While we could see our problem by the light the Law shined on our condition, we could not fix the problem ourselves. Jesus died to fix a problem we were incapable of, that of fulfilling the Law perfectly. By this completion, God as the Judge could declare all of us who believe to be not guilty. If you accept this, you cannot hold to other parts of the Old Testament Law to be binding. Biblically speaking, this is the same as putting yourself back into slavery after being set free (Galatians 5). Of note, the commandments that are given in the New Testament are not to be confused with the Old Testament Laws. New Testament Laws are to be followed as a demonstration of our love for God (John 14:15).
I would encourage you to look into all the passages I have shared. Please don't take my word for any of it, but I do ask you to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you though His Word. God Bless!
Thank you so much for your comments. They are well articulated and have much Biblical support. So I am in agreement with much of what you say. However, I have been persuaded by the Messianic perspective and interpret some of the Scriptures that you have used that speak about the fulfillment of the Law (meaning that much of the Law is set aside)differently.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you research how Sunday became the "new" Sabbath you will find that Saturday Sabbath was continued into the fourth century. The Council of Laodicea in 364 A.D. officially changed the Sabbath to Sunday for the Catholic church. However, the practice of Saturday Sabbath continued even beyond that in some areas.
I also appreciate your comments on what constitutes a viable home church. This weighs heavily on me and is why I have asked the question of whether or not home churching is appropriate for me. Thank you again. May God bless you as well!