The Apostle James tells us in the second chapter, verse ten of his epistle to “the twelve tribes (of Israel) scattered abroad” (vs 1), that though they are no longer together in the land God promised to them through Abraham, they were still subject to the Law that was handed down to their ancestors from Mount Sinai and written in stone by God Himself. In verse ten of chapter ten he makes this perfectly clear, saying: “For whosoever keeps the whole Law but BREAKS ONE OF THE COMMANDMENTS HAS BROKEN THE ENTIRE LAW.” This makes the Law-breaker guilty of INIQUITY–LAWLESSNESS.

Jesus warns us about such people in Matthew 15:8,9, saying: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain by teaching for My doctrines the commandments of men.” He had earlier spoken of such people as recorded in 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do the will of My Father Who is in heaven will enter in. Many will say to Me on Judgment Day, ‘Lord, Lord, we have prophesied in Your name, and in Your name have cast out devils, and in Your name have done many wonderful works.’ And then I will say to them: ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO COMMIT INIQUITY.” James reminds us that to break even one commandment is guilty of breaking the entire Law, thereby committing INIQUITY. Recall that the rich man was denied salvation because of “One thing”–lust for possessions. This man believed Jesus and went away sad, knowing that he would not inherit eternal life. Churchman, having rejected Christ’s Words, believes he can disobey Him and get away with it because he already saved. Read Born Again and The Process of Salvation to learn the truth about the false salvation offered by the faithless church. Key words–Born and Process respectively.

When the Lord proclaimed and wrote in stone the Ten Commandment Law on Mount Sinai He gave it to those who had agreed to obey whatever He would say to them, which was His Ten Commandment Law. This would make all who heard and obeyed His Words His people. Recall that this multitude included those biological Gentiles who had become SPIRITUAL ISRAELITES by agreeing to obey Him, thereby making them part of the “church (ekklesia–congregation) in the wilderness” of Sinai (Acts 7:38). Note in Exodus 19:3 that the Lord called the people: “… the house of Israel” and “the house of Jacob ….” Note that this included a “mixed multitude” of Gentiles who had become spiritual Israelites. Speaking about the group as a whole, the Lord said: “… IF you will OBEY MY VOICE INDEED and KEEP MY COVENANT, THEN YOU WILL BE A PECULIAR TREASURE TO ME ABOVE ALL PEOPLE FOR ALL THE EARTH IS MINE, AND YOU WILL BE TO ME A KINGDOM OF PIRIEST AND A HOLY NATION ….” Notice that these are the exact words the Apostle Peter used to describe the true saints in God’s New Testament Church (1 Peter 2:9). Why did God describe the Old Testament Church and the New Testament Church in the same way?

BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY ONE AND THE SAME. THOSE IN BOTH GROUPS OBEY/OBEYED GOD’S LAW, THE LAW HE PROCLAIMED ON MOUNT SINAI ANCIENTLY, LATER WROTE IN HIS HOLY BIBLE AND PRESERVED FOR HIS PEOPLE LIVING AT THE END OF THE AGE–THE TIME IN WHICH WE ARE NOW LIVING (1 COR. 10:11). GOD’S PEOPLE WHO WERE GATHERED AT MOUNT SINAI AND HIS PEOPLE WHO GATHER ON HIS SABBATH TODAY ARE SPIRITUALLY THE SAME BECAUSE THEY ALL OBEY THE SAME LAW IN OBEDIENCE TO THE SAME GOD. Which brings us to the subject of this series: THE SIGN THAT IDENTIFIES GOD’S PEOPLE AND SEPARATES THEM FROM ALL OTHERS.

The Lord knew that Satan would try to entice salvation-seeking man to join him (Satan) and to reject Himself (God). He (God) knew that Satan knew that breaking one of His (God’s) commandments would disqualify the seeker from receiving salvation. God knew that the fourth commandment would be the weapon Satan would use to deceive the masses. For this reason the Lord went to great length to show salvation seekers how important that commandment is to Him. Note that He had much more to say about that one commandment any other commandment, even more than the first two commandments combined. Though I have written several series on the importance of observing the Lord’s Sabbath, I feel that He wants me to summarize those teachings at this point. I will do so using defining statements and passages without trying to harmonize them into a narrative.

The Almighty created the Sabbath, blessed and sanctified it (Gen. 3:2:3). Later He said that :”The Sabbath is My Holy Day, the Holy (Day) of the Lord” (Isa. 58:13). So important to Him is His Sabbath that He made a separate covenant with Israel (God’s true church today–Gal. 6:16) as recorded in Exodus 31:12-17. Here He tells spiritual Israel (His New Covenant Church) that His Sabbath is of utmost importance to Him. In verse 13 He designates His Sabbath as the SIGN THAT IDENTIFIES HIS PEOPLE and separates them from those who claim to be His people but are not. Read this passage carefully and allow God to speak to you concerning the Sabbath question.

Satan, knowing that the breaking of one commandment would disqualify salvation seekers from receiving eternal life, has, over the centuries, used it to disqualify billions of people. Read the Sabbath series and Simon of Samaria for a historical view of how he convinced church people to reject God’s 7th day (Saturday) Sabbath and to embrace the heathen 1st day (Sunday) Sabbath–the day sun worshipers honored their god. In obedience to church doctrine, the Institutional Catholic/Protestant Church unwittingly worships and honors the sun every Sunday.

Satan’s success is obvious. The entire world, including the non-churched world, observes Sunday as the day of rest. Soon we will see the Sunday day of rest enforced by international law. Read Killing the Messenger and Killing the Messenger 2:0 for more details concerning this subject. L.J.