Lately, it seems as if my path has taken me within the midst of those who place ritualistic values, laws, or customs on how we should live as Christians as a necessity for salvation. My stance on such issues is that these thing are not channels or determinants to our salvation and should not be used to replace the simplicity and yet profound nature of Christ’s saving grace. Most of these standards, are in a sense, impossible for one to adhere to, and those who are advocating such beliefs are probably finding it hard themselves to live such a life. This is the reason why Jesus died for our sins. While the Law of the Old Testaments is good, it is impossible for us to live within the requirements of the Law.
These divisive issues have remain a persistent stumbling block for the Church since it inception in the days of Acts and have caused irreparable rifts within the Body of Christ. Here is St. Paul’s instruction on the matter: Romans 14:1-23
Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.'” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
So as St. Paul made clear in this chapter in the letter to the Romans, do not impose your belief on other to the extent that you pass judgement on them. Why would you do that to those who seek after the same Christ? In doing so you might bring judgement on yourself. The body of Christ comes in all forms in the way we worship. That which we are to guard and protect is the true nature of Christ. The way we worship and the customs or ritual we use to show our love and keep his command for Him should be according to the situation in which we are comfortable with. What others do: leave it to them and God.
A believer, who was also an Adventist, tried to convince me that the laws are a necessary channel to salvation, because there is nothing in the Gospels indicating that Jesus changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday nor did He mention that there is any change in the acceptable food we are allowed to eat. Now, as one who worships on Sunday, I am not claiming it to be the new Sabbath. We choose Sunday as our church going day for that special collective worshiping because that’s the day that Christ, our Lord and Savior was risen from the dead. We worship this risen Christ, whose resurrection from the dead represents the climatic event and sum of our faith. Now, I don’t believe Sunday worship is a must; as a matter of fact, any day of the week would suffice. It’s not the day; it’s where your heart is, and Paul made it very clear in the letter to the Roman church. Getting back to what Jesus said in the Gospel in regards to the Sabbath and other Mosaic Laws, well, there are indeed a number of verses in the Gospels that Jesus Himself taught us regarding these issues.
Mark 2:27,28: Then He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Jesus said the above verse after the Pharisees were criticizing the disciples for picking grains in a field during the Sabbath. The point He was making clear to the Pharisees is that the Sabbath was made for man; the Pharisees believed that God made man to worship Him on the Sabbath, in other words they believe man was made for the Sabbath. The fact the Jesus states that He is Lord over the Sabbath, which was made for man, is proof that accepting Him as our Lord and Savior is more important than that or any other day.
Mark 7:14,15,17-19: Again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” After He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples asked Him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” He asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” In saying this, Jesus, in fact, declared all foods clean.
There are many more illustrations in the Gospels and the Epistles instructing us of these divisive issues within the Body of Christ. In other words, we are instructed to eat what we want and refrain from what we think is not right for us. We are to keep the laws that gives us a clear conscience and the way of worship that is comfortable for us. However, Scripture is clear that we should not use our customs, beliefs or rituals to judge or condemn another believer, for so you judge you will also be judged. Why would we want to let fellow believers feel uneasy and confused about their salvation? Expecially those who are week or new to the faith, this could be a stumbling block for them. Instead, learn to respect and love each other, guard and protect the true nature of Christ, and do your part to fulfill the great commission: to take the Gospel to all corners of the earth.
The Branch Life 
Great insight.
Thank you Gillian!