The 4th Commandment (Part 7)

The Common Holidays are soon upon us, & with it come those who complain about strict 7 Day Sabbatarianism, Christmas Trees, Halloween, & the food laws.  As a matter of review, these & other practices are encompassed by the 4th Commandment.  The 4th Commandment declares that the people are to work 6 days & set aside the 7th day out of a 7-Day cycle. It does not prescribe a Friday @ sunset to Sat. @ sunset day to the exclusion of any others. You ought to be able to deduce that the actual day or days of the week can be legally expanded.   Sabbath regulations are a package deal.  If Rigid Sabbatarianism is true, there can be no expansion of the Hebrew feast/festival calendar in Lev. 23.  There is no command to observe Purim, yet Esther gives the rationale for it.  Yeshua attended the Festival of Lights — and He did so without sinning.  Changing the times & the Law isn’t limited to the abolition/repeal of worship & rest regulations. ...
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Does Matthew 22:1-14 Disprove Calvinism?

Does Matthew 22:1-14 disprove Calvinism?  According to some people it does.   According them, the kings servants invited many, many people, but someone was cast into outer darkness.  Therefore Calvinism is false.  This allegedly disproves Unconditional Election &/or Irresistible Grace. 


As to Unconditional Election, the text states, “And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.  (Matthew 22:10, ESV)”


It’s hard to see how this disproves Unconditional Election.  Those gathered are found from among both good & bad people.    The opposing position (Conditional Election) teaches that God elects those from among all walks of life who do a good thing —- exercise saving faith & repentance.   The texts emphasis is on the gathering of people. 


As to Irresistible Grace, the text says that the king commanded that the servants go into the highways & invite everyone they found.   In response, the servants **gathered** people into the wedding hall.  The words for invite & gathered are not the same word.   


Among those in the wedding hall there is only one man who has refused the wedding garments.  He appears as a representative of those **invited** in the first part of the parable.    


In the conclusion, Yeshua says many are **called** & few are **chosen.**  The many fill the wedding hall. The few are cast into outer darkness. 


“Called” refers to both inviting (a general call) & gathering (an effectual call.   “Chosen” refers to the invited one who, because he refused to wear the wedding garment was cast into outer darkness.   He was chosen to be passed over (reprobated) & considered for reprobation as a sinner, which supports the Infralaparian Order of Decrees. 


Nothing in the text fails to support the Doctrines of Grace.  


Thank you for reading, & “Go & Sin No More.” 

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