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The Holman Bible
Dictionary defines the word “remnant” as,
“Something left over, especially the
righteous people of God after divine
judgment.”
And the Baker Illustrated
Bible Dictionary says, “The concept of a
remnant or a “remnant theology” runs
throughout Scripture. Although appearing in
a wide variety of texts and contexts, the
central idea of the remnant concept or
remnant theology is that in the midst of
seemingly total apostasy and the
consequential terrible judgment and/or
destruction, God always has a small,
faithful group that he delivers and works
through to bring blessing.”
The remnant in the Old Testament were those
true believers who survived and remained
true to God at all times. God always
preserves a remnant.
The concept of a remnant is present
in:
• Noah and his family being
delivered through the flood (Gen. 6-9);
• Lot and his daughters being delivered out
of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19);
•
Joseph’s family being delivered out of
famine (Gen. 45);
• The faithful
Hebrews who did not bow their knee to Baal
(1 Kings 19);
• The Israelites who went
into captivity (Ezek. 12);
• The few
Jews who would rebuild the nation after
Israel suffered judgment (Amos 9);
• The
Israelites who would survive the destruction
caused by the Assyrians (Isa. 4; 12);
•
Christ’s other sheep, the believing Gentiles
(Acts 15:17; Amos 9:12; Rom. 11:17;
Eph. 3:6).
Israel and
the remnant:
God wants every
person to know Him personally as their
loving, Heavenly Father. God’s purpose has
always been to establish a people for
Himself who know Him as the one true God,
and follow Him with all their hearts and
minds. The Old Covenant promise to make
Israel the people of God was conditional on
their obedience to the covenant.
Exodus 19:5-6 says, “Now therefore, if you
will indeed obey my voice and keep my
covenant, you shall be my treasured
possession among all peoples, for all the
earth is mine; and you shall be to me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These
are the words that you shall speak to the
people of Israel.” (see: 1 Pet. 2:9-10).
Israel promised to be obedient
to God and keep His covenant.
Exodus 19:7-8 says, ”So Moses came and
called the elders of the people and set
before them all these words that the LORD
had commanded him. All the people answered
together and said, “All that the LORD has
spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the
words of the people to the LORD.”
The Old Testament prophets often talked
about a remnant of faithful believers. The
prophets were called by God to announce His
judgment upon Israel when they rebelled
against Him and His covenant. Even though
most of Israel was unfaithful, God promised
to preserve a remnant from among His people.
Another one of the main functions of
a prophet was to build up and encourage
God’s remnant (1 Kings 19:18; Isa. 1:9; 8:16-19; 10:20-23; 28:5;
Jer. 15:19-21),
and prepare them for the coming of the
promised Messiah (Mic. 5:2-3; 5:7-8; Zech. 8:11-12;
Mal. 3:16-18; Matt. 1:18-21; Luke 1:5-7; 2:25-38).
Israel
was supposed to be a living example and
witness to the whole world. One by one, the
nations of the world would see the infinite
superiority of worship and service to
Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God of Israel
and unite with them in their service to God
(Deut. 4:6-9; 7:12-15; 28:1-13; Isa. 49:3-7; 61:9; 62:1-2; 2:2-3; 11:10; 14:1; 19:18-22; 45:14; 55:5; 56:3-8; 60:1-12;
Jer. 3:17; 16:19; 33:9; Zech. 2:11; 8:20-23).
Israel forfeited
possession of the land of Canaan due to
apostasy.
God repeatedly
extended his grace to Israel through His
prophets, but they continually resisted and
rejected him (2 Kings 17:7-23; Jer. 25:3-11; 26:1-9). The nation spent 70 years
of captivity in Babylon because they
continually violated the covenant and
received the covenant curses promised for
disobeying God’s Law (Deut. 28:63-65;
Joshua 24; Judges 2:1-3; Jer. 32:21-23).
God’s desire was for them to learn from
adversity what they could have learned
through times of blessings and prosperity
(Jer. 25:5-7; Jer. 46:28; Ezek. 20:35-38). After their captivity, Israel
returned to their home land and God warned
them about future judgments to come if they
continued in their unfaithfulness.
God’s faithful remnant who lived under the
Old Covenant understood that the covenant
God made with Israel was conditional (Exod. 19:5-6;
Lev. 26; Deut. 28:1-6; 28:15-19; 28-30; Jer. 12:14-17; 18:7-11; 26:1-6;
Dan. 9:24-27). If Israel, as a
nation rejected God and He brought judgment
upon them, they knew they would still be
safe. Even if Israel persisted in their
rejection of God and He brought the Old
Covenant to an end, they knew they would be
secure. They could know they were safe and
secure because they were obedient and lived
by faith in the promises of God, not by
trusting in their good works.
God brought
the Old Covenant to an end when Israel
rejected their Messiah. Just before his
death, Jesus declared the coming destruction
of the nation with all of its temple
services (Jer. 12:14-17; 18; 26:1-6;
Dan. 9:26-27; Matt. 23:37-39; 21:42-44;
Luke 13:34-35; 1 Kings 9:7; Jer. 22:5; 1 Pet. 2:9).
Sadly, most of Israel
had rebelled against God and rejected their
Messiah. But there was a small number, a
remnant of believing Jews, who accepted
Jesus as their Messiah and went on to form
the Christian Church, the New Covenant
people of God (Luke 24:44-49; John 20:20-22;
Acts 1:13-15; 2:1-4).
The Church was
predominantly Jewish when it began; they
were God’s faithful remnant of believing
Jews. The Gentiles who believed in Jesus
were grafted into the true olive tree of
believing Israel (the inheritors of the
promises of the Abrahamic covenant), and
became part of the church of Christ (Gen. 12:1, 2; 17:7, 8;
Hosea 14:6; Acts 13:43; 15:15-21; 17:2-4; 18:8;
Rom. 2:28-29; 9:6-8; 11:11-31).
Jesus’
mission on earth was to share the good news
of salvation with Israel.
Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the time had
fully come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, born under law, to redeem those under
law, that we might receive the full rights
of sons.”
Matthew 15:24 says, “He
answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel.”
Romans 15:8
says, “For I tell you that Christ became a
servant to the circumcised to show God’s
truthfulness, in order to confirm the
promises given to the patriarchs,”
When Jesus was
on earth, He said that His mission was to
reach the “lost sheep of the house of
Israel” (Matt. 15:24; Luke 24:47; John 4:22;
c.f. Gal. 4:4-5). He would at times minister to
non-Jews, but at this point in
God’s redemptive plan Jesus was focused on
reaching his fellow Jews and caring for
their spiritual needs. Later Christ’s apostles would carry out
his command to
take the message of the gospel to the rest
of the world (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 22:21; 26:17, 18, 23;
cf. Luke 24:47; John 10:16).
Jesus made it clear that He was the
fulfillment of all of Israel’s hopes and
desires (Luke 24:44-45; cf. John 5:39;
Matt. 5:17-18). Everything Israel had longed to see
was coming true in the life of Jesus of
Nazareth. Their redemption was close at
hand. How they responded to Jesus’ message
of salvation would determine their eternal
destiny.
Jesus is the only
way.
John 15:1-6 says, “I am
the true vine, and my Father is the
gardener. He cuts off every branch in me
that bears no fruit, while every branch that
does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be
even more fruitful. You are already clean
because of the word I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No
branch can bear fruit by itself; it must
remain in the vine. Neither can you bear
fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the
vine; you are the branches. If a man remains
in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone
does not remain in me, he is like a branch
that is thrown away and withers; such
branches are picked up, thrown into the fire
and burned.” (NIV)
Acts 4:12 says,
“And there is salvation in no one else, for
there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved.”
The New Covenant includes Jews
and Gentiles who have accepted Jesus Christ
as their Lord and Savior.
Romans 2:28-29 says, “For no one is a Jew
who is merely one outwardly, nor is
circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew
is one inwardly, and circumcision is a
matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by
the letter. His praise is not from man but
from God.”
Galatians 3:28-29 says,
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is no male and
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are
Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to
promise.”
And Galatians 6:15 says,
“For neither circumcision counts for
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creation.”
Our ethnicity doesn’t
matter! Our gender and skin color don’t
matter either. The only thing that does
matter
is how we respond to the gospel. We can only
be justified and redeemed when we make Jesus
Christ the Lord and Savior of our lives.
A remnant from the Gentiles comes to
faith.
Acts 15:17 says,
“That the remnant of mankind may seek the
Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by
my name, says the Lord, who makes these
things.”
James quoted from Amos 9:11-12 and Isaiah 45:21 at the Jerusalem
Council to point out that the Gentiles who
were coming to faith in their time was
prophesied by the Old Testament prophets.
Through them, God had promised that a
remnant from both Israel and the Gentiles
would be saved (see: Acts 10:47; 16:14-15; 17:1-4; 18:7-8).
The Apostle
Paul tells us why Israel failed as a nation
to keep God’s covenant.
Romans 9:30-33 says, “What shall we say,
then? That Gentiles who did not pursue
righteousness have attained it, that is, a
righteousness that is by faith; but that
Israel who pursued a law that would lead to
righteousness did not succeed in reaching
that law. Why? Because they did not pursue
it by faith, but as if it were based on
works. They have stumbled over the stumbling
stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am
laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a
rock of offense; and whoever believes in him
will not be put to shame.”
Jesus was
the stone that Israel stumbled over (1 Pet. 2:6-8). We can only be saved by putting our
faith in what Jesus Christ has done for us,
not by keeping the Law, or doing good things
to earn our salvation. Doing good things is
not bad. Living a moral life should be the
goal for God’s people in every age. The
problem Israel had was they believed that
the Law was a means to an end. They believed
they had to keep the law to be saved. They
were trying to do something that no one
could do, keep the law well enough to earn
the right to go to heaven.
Jesus is
the only person who has ever kept the law
perfectly! He did everything the law
required, never once breaking any of its
commands. Because He was without sin, Jesus
was able to meet all of the requirements of
the Law to be the perfect sacrifice for our
sins. His death redeemed humanity from the
curse of the law and made it possible for
humanity to be with God again.
Romans 5:19 says, “For as by the one man’s
disobedience the many were made sinners, so
by the one man’s obedience the many will be
made righteous.
Galatians 3:13 says,
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of
the law, having become a curse for us (for
it is written, ’Cursed is everyone who hangs
on a tree’).”
The Curse of
the Law was removed by Jesus’ death.
The curse that the law had over humanity
was removed. The death of Christ meant that
those who were slaves under the law could
become the children of God and heirs to His
promise of eternal life (Gal. 4:4-7;
cf. John 1:17; Rom. 3:21-26; 6:14; 7:4; 10:4;
Phil. 3:9; Gal. 3:13, 21, 22; 5:1; Eph. 2:14-15;
Col. 2:13-17; 2 Cor. 3:3-11; Heb. 7:19; 10:1).
God promised that a
remnant of believing Jews would still come
from the people of Israel.
Romans 9:6-8 says, “But it is not as though
the word of God has failed. For not all who
are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
and not all are children of Abraham because
they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac
shall your offspring be named.” This means
that it is not the children of the flesh who
are the children of God, but the children of
the promise are counted as offspring.”
In Romans 9; 11, Paul was talking
about God’s promise to make Abraham’s
descendants as numerous as the stars in the
sky (Gen. 22:17). Yet, from this huge
number of people only a small group would
ultimately be saved.
Paul
knew that he was part of God’s true remnant.
Romans 11:1-5 says, “I ask,
then, has God rejected his people? By no
means! For I myself am an Israelite, a
descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe
of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people
whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the
Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to
God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed
your prophets, they have demolished your
altars, and I alone am left, and they seek
my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I
have kept for myself seven thousand men who
have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at
the present time there is a remnant, chosen
by grace.”
Not everyone who
thinks they will be saved are part of the
remnant people of God.
Jesus
said in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the
will of my Father who is in heaven. On that
day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesy in your name, and cast out
demons in your name, and do many mighty
works in your name?’ And then will I declare
to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me,
you workers of lawlessness.’”
These
people who thought they deserved heaven
failed to enter into it because they didn’t
live by faith in the Son of God. Every
reason they gave for their right to be there
was based on their own good works. The fruit
they produced was bad so Christ had to cut
the tree down (Matt. 7:15-20). Just because
we think we are doing the right things
doesn’t mean we are truly saved. No one is
saved because they stopped eating flesh
meats or keep the seventh day Sabbath. We
are saved by grace through faith in the Son
of God alone. There is no other name under
heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12).
God has always had a remnant of
true believers in every age.
Jesus said His true followers need to be
the salt of the earth and a light to the
world. Matthew 5:13-16 says, “You are the
salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its
taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
It is no longer good for anything except to
be thrown out and trampled under people’s
feet. “You are the light of the world. A
city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do
people light a lamp and put it under a
basket, but on a stand, and it gives light
to all in the house. In the same way, let
your light shine before others, so that they
may see your good works and give glory to
your Father who is in heaven.”
A remnant is a
fragment that’s left over, or a very small
part of the whole. The remnant that are
saved is that small group of people who
truly live their lives for Christ through
the power of the Holy Spirit. They are the
salt of the earth and a light in the
darkness.
The remnant in the
book of Revelation.
Revelation 12:17 says, “Then the dragon was
enraged at the woman and went off to make
war against the rest of her offspring—those
who obey God’s commandments and hold to the
testimony of Jesus.” (NIV)
Seventh-day Adventists
usually quote Revelation 12:17 from the King
James Version of the Bible to defend their
“Remnant Theology” which says, “And the
dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which
keep the commandments of God, and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ.”
To understand the meaning of this verse, we
have to understand what the Apostle John
means when he uses the word, “commandments.”
John said many times that we should keep
the commandments in his writings
(John 12; 14; 15; 1 Jn. 2:3, 4; 3:22, 23, 24;
1 Jn. 4:21; 5:2, 3; 2 Jn. 1:4-6; Rev. 12:17; 14:12;
cf. Rev. 22:14), but what exactly
does he mean by the word, “commandments”?
The word, “commandments” has different
meanings depending on the context, and the
author. John uses different Greek words for
“law” and “commandments” consistently in all
of his writings. When John is speaking about
the Old Covenant Law he uses the Greek word,
“nomos” exclusively (John 1:17, 45; 7:19).
John used “entolē” in
Revelation 12:17 and Revelation 14:12 to
refer to the commandments of God that
Christ’s followers are expected to keep.
Some of the other New Testament authors do
occasionally use entolē to refer to
the Old Covenant Law but John never does! John always used the Greek word
entolē to
mean a “moral and religious precept,
regulation or command.” John never said that
we have to keep the Ten Commandments from
the Old Covenant Law to be saved under the
New Covenant.
John was telling his
readers to be faithful to Christ and keep
the moral precepts, and commands of God
under the terms of the New Covenant.
[1]
The New Covenant has replaced
the Old Covenant Law.
John 1:17
says, “For the law was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ.”
Jesus introduced the
New Covenant to His disciples the night
before he died.
Luke 22:17-20
says, “And he took a cup, and when
he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and
divide it among yourselves. For I tell you
that from now on I will not drink of the
fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God
comes.” And he took bread, and when he had
given thanks, he broke it and gave it to
them, saying, “This is my body, which is
given for you. Do this in remembrance of
me.” And likewise the cup after they had
eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out
for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
To understand the Old and New Covenants,
we need to first understand what the word
“covenant” means. In basic terms, a covenant
is a formal legal agreement. It may be an
agreement between two people, a treaty
between nations, or between God and a human
individual or nation. A covenant is more
personal than a contract, it involves
loyalty and allegiance, not just a financial
exchange.
The Mosaic Covenant was one
of several ethical codes of conduct that God
has given to his people throughout human
history. God gave commands (codes of
conduct) to Adam and Eve living in the
Garden of Eden (Gen. 1:26-30; 2:15-17), to
Noah (Gen. 6-9), and to Abraham
(Gen. 12:1; 17:10-14; 26:5). The Mosaic code contained
all 613 laws of the Old Covenant (Exodus —
Deuteronomy). Today we live under the New
Covenant, law of Christ (Gal. 6:2; Rom. 8:2).
The New Covenant contains hundreds of
specific commands recorded in the New
Testament.
Each covenant is like
a new legal contract. A contract must have
all of its requirements defined in the
contract. Each covenant can use elements
from previous covenants, reapply them, or
omit them completely and give new laws. The
laws from the Mosaic Covenant were done away
with entirely as a legal code. They have been
replaced by the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2;
1 Cor. 9:19-23; cf. Mark 12:28-31; 1 Jn. 4:7-8; 5:3).
[2]
The
temporary nature of the Old Covenant brought
nothing to fulfillment (Gal. 3:23-24;
Matt. 5:17). The New Covenant is better than the
Old Covenant because our redemption is
completely secure, and it makes having a
personal and intimate relationship with the
God who created us possible (Heb. 3:6).
Hebrews 7:12 says, “For when there is a
change in the priesthood, there is
necessarily a change in the law as well.”
The Levitical priesthood was set aside since
it was unable to accomplish God’s saving
purpose because of its “weakness and
uselessness” (Heb. 7:18). Only Jesus’ work
on the cross could bring God’s people to
perfection (Heb. 7:11; 9:9; 10:1). Unlike
the Levitical priesthood, Jesus’ priesthood
was final because the sacrifice that he made
on our behalf was perfect. Jesus, our new
high priest has accomplished “eternal
salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:9).
Hebrews 7:22 says, “This makes Jesus the
guarantor of a better covenant.”
The
Law of Moses was the legal agreement God
made with the nation of Israel at Mount
Sinai that the Ten Commandments summarized
(James 2:10; Gal. 5:3; Exod. 34:28;
Exod. 19:5-6; 24:3). It was never meant for the
Gentiles (Rom. 2:14-15; 9:3-5; 1 Cor. 9:20-21).
The Law was given to reveal man’s
sinful nature and to lead us to Christ, not
to justify us before God (Gal. 3:19-22; Rom. 3:19-20; 5:20;
Rom. 7:5-7; 8:7; 1 Tim. 1:8-11; Heb. 7:11-19). The law can only
produce death (Rom. 5:20-21; 7:5).
The Mosaic law was given to watch
over us until we could be made new in Christ
(Romans 7:1-12; Galatians 3:23-25).
Christians have never been under the
authority or condemnation of the Old
Covenant Law, we are under God’s grace
(Rom. 6:14; 8:1-11; Gal. 5:18; Eph. 2:8-10). We
are called to live a new life of liberty,
and told to have the divine love of Christ
in our hearts as our only motivation
(Gal. 5:1, 13, 14).
The people who make up
the “remnant” are those true Christians who
are faithful to Christ in every age.
Seventh-day Adventists are wrong about the
Sabbath being required for the Christian
church. The Sabbath was for Israel alone and
served as a ceremonial sign for the Mosaic Covenant
(Exod. 31:16-17; Ezek. 20:12, 20). It was
never made an obligation for the church to
keep (Acts 15:1-20; Col. 2:14-17; Gal. 4:10-11;
Rom. 14:5-12; Eph. 2:11-18; 2 Cor. 3:3-11).
In fact, there is no command to
keep any day of the week holy in the New
Covenant. As Christians, we live by the
terms and obligations of the New Covenant,
not the Old Covenant Law. Seventh-day
Adventists are wrong about who the remnant
is as well.
God’s remnant
people rest in what Christ Jesus has already accomplished for
us through the cross.
God wants us to trust Him, and rest in
Him, spiritually. The author of Hebrews
calls the rest Christ wants us to enter into
a “sabbatismós” (Sabbath) rest.
Hebrews 4:9-11
says, “So then, there remains a
Sabbath rest for the people of God, for
whoever has entered God’s rest has also
rested from his works as God did from his.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest,
so that no one may fall by the same sort of
disobedience.”
The Complete Word
Study Dictionary says, “the noun
sabbatismós, a Sabbath keeping, is used in
Hebrews 4:9 to indicate the perpetual
Sabbath rest to be enjoyed uninterruptedly
by believers in their fellowship with the
Father and the Son in contrast to the weekly
Sabbath under the Law. It is a divine rest
into which the believers enter in their
relationship with God here on earth and in
eternity.” [3]
The rest God wants us to enter
is the rest of faith in the Son of God.
The rest in Hebrews 4 is not the weekly,
seventh day Sabbath from the Old Covenant
Law.
God’s “sabbatismós” rest is a
perpetual rest believers enjoy without
interruption in their fellowship with the
Father and the Son, in contrast to the
weekly Sabbath rest given to Israel under
the Law.
“God wants us to
enter his rest. For the Israelites of Moses’
time, this rest was the earthly rest to be
found in the Promised Land. For Christians,
it is peace with God now and eternal life on
a new earth later. We do not need to wait
for the next life to enjoy God’s rest and
peace; we may have it daily now! Our daily
rest in the Lord will not end with death but
will become an eternal rest in the place
that Christ is preparing for us (John 14:1-4).”
[4]
Jesus wants
us to find our rest in Him and the salvation
He offers us.
Matthew 11:28-30
says, “Come to me, all you who are
weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from
me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls. For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (NIV)
Jesus
invites everyone who is wearied and weighed
down by sin to experience true rest for
their souls by following Him. His yoke is
much easier to bare than the legalism, and
the self-righteous works that the scribes
and Pharisees preached (Mark 7:2-8; Acts 15:10).
If you put your trust in Jesus
Christ alone, and keep His commands, He will
give you rest from the heavy burden of sin,
and the impossible demands of trying to keep
the Old Covenant law.
The
remnant are the redeemed people of God.
The Old Testament talks a lot more about
a remnant than the New Testament does. In
its most basic sense, the remnant are God’s true
believers who have been delivered from a
sinful world. Colossians 1:13 says, “He has
delivered us from the domain of darkness and
transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved
Son,” The mission of the church is to share
Christ’s love with the lost world; proclaim
the good news of the gospel; nurture God’s
people; and exercise the gifts of the Spirit
to build up the body of Christ.
No
single organization, or church has the right
to call themselves the remnant church. There
will be a remnant saved from every age who
have truly believed (see: Matt. 16:15-19;
Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12-14;
Eph. 1:22-23; 3:21; 4:4-13).
God’s remnant
is the
true body of Christ. Christians should do
their best to live a good life for God
because they already know they are going to
be with Christ for eternity. God’s true
remnant understands that they are saved by
grace, through faith in the Son of God, and
nothing more. They do their best to live for
God because they love Him. They are the ones
who serve God with all their hearts, and
minds, and rest in Jesus Christ, the author
and perfecter of our faith (see: Matt. 16:15-19;
Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12-14; Eph. 1:22-23; 3:21; 4:4-13; Heb. 12:2).
You can know that you are part of
God’s remnant.
1 John 5:11-13
says, “And this is the
testimony, that God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the
Son has life; whoever does not have the Son
of God does not have life. I write these
things to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have
eternal life.”
If
you are a born-again Christian, you can know for
certain that you have been redeemed. If you
have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior you can know for certain that you
have eternal life (John 3:36; 5:24).
References:
1.
see:
The Apostle John was not saying we need to
keep the Ten Commandments in any of His
writings.
2. see:
Basic
Theology by Charles Caldwell Ryrie: The End
of the Law.
3. The Complete Word
Study Dictionary: σαββατισμός /
sabbatismós.
4. The Life Application
Study Bible: Hebrews 4:9.
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