"We Can't Keep the Sabbath."
By James White
MANY say so, and many reasons are offered why they cannot. Now I am not going to deny their assertions—I believe they speak the truth; but I think their inability arises from the position they occupy, and not from there being anything unjust or rigorous in the commandment; for God's commandments are not grievous. 1 John v, 3. The fact that they cannot keep the Sabbath is evidence of wrong on their part, not of him who gave the law. The only reason that I have ever been able to find why people cannot keep the Sabbath, or any of the commandments of God, is found in Rom. viii, 7; “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, NEITHER INDEED CAN BE.” When people acknowledge the claims of the decalogue, and profess to keep the Sabbath, while they are yet carnally minded, it is not to be wondered at that they keep Sunday in its stead; for there is no subjection to the law of God required to keep Sunday. The great mistake with the mass of religionists of the present day is: they endeavor to serve two masters, and to bring the carnal mind, full of worldly and selfish desires, into subjection to the law of God. But it can never be accomplished; they must renounce their allegiance to their old master, and have the carnal mind taken away by the blood of Christ, a new heart and a right spirit given, which will be at peace with God. Then, being reconciled to God, they will feel a sweet submission to his law; as it was to David and Paul, the law will be their delight. Says the psalmist, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.” Ps. xxxiv, 18; li, 17. It is to be feared that many are endeavoring to bend an old rebellious heart to the service of God, unwilling to let it break. They must die to self and the world before Christ can be formed within. J. H. W.