Interesting Questions-21
"On the observance of Sabbath
day"
Letter to the Editor:
GOD'S MESSAGE, March 2007, p.4
I UNDERSTAND that the founder
of the used to be a Seventh-day
Adventist, which means he understood
the importance of observing the Sabbath from
the standpoint of an Adventist. Can you please explain to me
why he did not include Sabbath observance as a part of the practices
of INC members?
Glenn D. Whitt II
tromboniste@email.uophx.edu
Editor's reply:
We must first clarify and rectify certain points
in your letter. If the person
you are referring to in your letter as "the
founder of the INC" is Brother Felix Manalo, we
would like to make it clear that he is not the founder of the
Iglesia ni Cristo. Brother Felix Manalo is the man
whom we recognize and believe as God's messenger who was
instrumental for the emergence of the Iglesia ni Cristo in these
last days as attested to by biblical prophecies (Isa. 46:1 1; 41
:9-10; Rev. 7:2-3).
Before Brother Felix Manalo was sent
by God to preach the Iglesia m Cristo, He was once a member of
the Seventh-day Adventist. However, he left that religion in
search of the truth and of the true religion. Brother Manalo,
being once a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
understood the importance of observing the Sabbath from the
standpoint of an Adventist. However, he came to understand, from the
biblical standpoint, that observing the Sabbath in the Christian Era
is unbiblical.
Observing the Sabbath was God's command to His
ancient nation, Israel. It was one of the ten commandments God
gave to Moses to be observed by ancient Israel as a symbol of
the Lord's covenant with them and to commemorate their deliverance
from bondage in Egypt. (Mal. 4:4; Exod. 31:16;
Deut. 5:15). But, the same
law that supposes that no work should be done during the Sabbath day
no longer applies to God's people in the Christian Era.
Apostle Paul taught:
"Let no one criticize you in matters of food or
drink or for not observing festivals, new moons or
the sabbath" (Col. 2:16, Christian Community Bible).
In fact, even during the time of the
Israelites, God had put an end to the observance of Sabbath and
caused it to be forgotten (Hos. 2:11, Revised Standard Version; Lam.
2:6, NKJV)
And I will put an end to all her mirth, her
feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts.
(Hosea 2:11, RSV)
He has done violence to His tabernacle, [As if
it were] a garden; He has destroyed His place of assembly; The LORD
has caused The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in
Zion. In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the
priest. ( Lamentations 2:6, NKJV)
That is why we can read from the Holy Scriptures that the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself stated that "it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath"
(Matt. 12:12, New International Version).
and a man with a
shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges
against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath?” He said to them,
“If any of you has a sheep and it falls
into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift
it out?
How much more
valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is
lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Then he said to the man,
“Stretch out your hand.”
So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as
sound as the other.
(Matthew
12:10-13, NIV)
Jesus even healed sick people on the Sabbath
day (Luke 13:10-17).
On a Sabbath Jesus was
teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had
been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over
and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he
called her forward and said to her,
“Woman, you are set free from your
infirmity.” Then
he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and
praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath,
the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for
work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on
the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it
out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a
daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long
years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the
people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was
doing. (Luke 13:10-17, NIV)
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