Hard questions, straight answers
When you set down a heavy load, people ask questions. Many who see these things differently love Jesus very much. These answers take the Bible straight to the teaching.
Isn’t the Saturday Sabbath still for Christians?
Paul wrote to believers, “Let no one pass judgment on you... with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath” (Colossians 2:16). If keeping Saturday were a rule for Christians, he could never have said that. He told the Romans each person should be fully convinced in his own mind about days (Romans 14:5), something he never said about stealing or lying. And when the apostles wrote to new believers in Acts 15, the Sabbath was not on the list.
Under the Law, breaking the Sabbath carried the death penalty (Exodus 31:14-15). No one believes that still applies. But drop the penalty and you are picking the parts you like. Paul said whoever takes on the Law is a debtor “obligated to keep the whole law” (Galatians 5:3). Jesus already paid that debt.
Isn’t Sunday just the new Sabbath?
Moving a shadow to a new day does not turn it into the real thing. Believers gather on Sunday because Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1; Acts 20:7). John called it the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10). It is a day to celebrate, not a new Mount Sinai. Our Sabbath is not a day. It is a Person.
If I don’t tithe, am I under a curse?
The curse in Malachi was spoken to Israel under the Sinai covenant, about food for the temple storehouse. To believers Paul writes, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). No one can strap back on what Jesus carried away. Any ministry that uses fear to get money, or says “pay us first and God will pay you back,” is wrong.
Then can I just keep my money?
No. Freedom from the tithe law is not freedom from giving. The New Testament moves the bar from your wallet to your heart. “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). The first believers sold land and houses so no one went hungry (Acts 4:34-35). Fear only pushes you to the line. Love pulls you past it.
Didn’t Jesus keep the Sabbath and tithe?
Yes. He was “born under the law” (Galatians 4:4) while the temple still stood, and He kept every bit of it perfectly, for us. Then on the cross He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He did not keep the Law so we would have to keep it too. He kept it so we could rest in Him.
Didn’t Jesus say He did not come to abolish the Law?
He did, and the rest of the verse matters: “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). To fulfill means to fill all the way up and bring to its goal. The Law stands “until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). On the cross Jesus said it was accomplished.
Isn’t this just lawlessness?
Paul answered that with a strong no (Romans 6:1-2). He said he was “under the law of Christ” (1 Corinthians 9:21), and that law is love. “Love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10). The Law said do not steal; love gives. The Law said do not murder; love forgives. A believer filled with the Spirit lives higher than the Law, not lower.
Do I have to say the sinner’s prayer?
The Bible never gives one set prayer you must pray to be saved. The jailer, the thief on the cross and Cornelius were all saved by believing, and none of them prayed it. If you prayed it when you trusted Jesus, praise God. But words do not save you. Jesus does.
What about Romans 10:9, confessing with my mouth?
Read the next verse: “With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:10). It starts in the heart. The mouth speaks what the heart already holds, the way “I love you” comes out of love that is already there. It is not a magic spell, and God is not checking your grammar.
Where does baptism fit?
The jailer believed, and then “he was baptized at once” (Acts 16:33). Cornelius received the Spirit before he was baptized (Acts 10:44-48). Baptism is important and beautiful, but it is a response to being saved, not a payment for it, like a wedding ring that shows a marriage already made.
Isn’t freedom dangerous?
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Paul’s warning runs the other way: “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law” (Galatians 5:4). Rules plus Jesus is not more. It is less.
So what should I do now?
Rest in Jesus every day. Take a day off each week because rest is a gift. Gather with other believers. Give with a happy heart. Be kind to people who see it another way. That is not a new rulebook. It is simply what a free heart does.
Have a question that is not here? Write to The Apostle.