At One With God Now?
by Mike James
I recently had a discussion with some ministers in the Church of God, Seventh Day (COG7D). The meeting addressed why we keep the holy days and why they do not.
I would like to address a couple of their scriptural reasons for not keeping the holy days so we can better prepare ourselves for doctrines that are contrary to our own.
The first scripture their primary speaker addressed to say why they don’t need to keep the holy days was Romans 5:11. Here is what this scripture says: “Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (NIV).
“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (KJV).
The point they were trying to make with this scripture was that when Jesus first came and lived, died, and was resurrected, all things were now fulfilled through those actions. They reasoned that there is no future atonement, which is what we believe when Satan is put away for 1,000 years and the world will be at one with God as His Kingdom-rule begins to envelope the entire earth.
I quickly countered that point on this scripture by informing them that the atonement we can achieve with Christ is still not final. I agree, we can be at-one with Christ by receiving His Spirit at baptism, but if we remain flesh and blood our at-one-ment with Christ can still escape us.
I mentioned two important scriptures that make this clear. In Hebrews 6:4-6 we read that those who have been partakers of the Holy Spirit can fall away! Hebrews 10:26-27 reiterates this same point. Here we read that if we sin willfully AFTER we have received the knowledge of the truth that no more sacrifice for our sins remains. In other words, we can lose our salvation—we can lose our at-one-ment with Christ.
The fulfillment of the first fall holy day, the Feast of Trumpets is when we are locked in to our at-one-ment with Christ. First Corinthians 15:50-54 makes it clear we can’t become fully part of God’s Kingdom until we are changed from flesh into spirit.
The elders from the COG7D did not have a scripture to prove Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Trumpets, but their attempt to say Christ had already fulfilled atonement by Romans 5:11 left a lot to be desired. I also mentioned that Satan will have to be put away (Revelation 20:1-3) for the world to really be at one with God. Satan does play a part in manipulating mankind to not follow God. Let’s not forget Satan was there from the beginning with mankind working against God’s purpose for mankind. If he remains on the scene where flesh and blood reside there will be no at-one-ment with God due to this other god trying to sway minds and hearts.
Don’t forget God wants to save all of us even those who do not presently believe in Him. Even those who have died and did not believe in Him. There will still be flesh-and-blood people around after Christ returns and part of the reason for the Millennium is to convince people to follow Christ (Zechariah 14:16-19) and receive their redemption in the future. The second resurrection judgment period (Revelation 20:5; Matthew 11:20-24; Matthew 12:41-42; Matthew 10:11-15; John 5:28-29) is also a time in the future people can be reconciled to God.
The elder from the COG7D believed that the two goats in the Old Testament Atonement ceremony represented Christ. He did not think the second goat was a symbol related to Satan. He believed the second goat being led to the wilderness was symbolic of Christ being crucified outside the city walls of Jerusalem. But is that correct?
I’m not going to get into a full discussion of the two goats here, but the Hebrew word used for the second goat is Azazel. The first goat was “FOR THE LORD” and the second for Azazel. If the second goat relates to Christ, why is it associated with this obscure name? One primary point here is the second goat is not mentioned as “being for the Lord!” The word Azazel has a long history in Jewish sources—some predating Christ—as being associated with demonic spirits. The wilderness it was led to is also symbolic in various sources and the Bible as the residence of the demon spirits. But don’t forget soon after Christ returns (Trumpets) in Revelation 20:1-3 Satan is led away by an angel (Atonement?) just like the goat was led away ten days after the Feast of Trumpets. And interestingly enough Satan returns to the scene after the Millennium (Revelation 20:7-8) to deceive the nations! Sounds like there are still people around who can receive at-one-ment with God!
One way to read Revelation 20:11-12 is “the dead” being judged there are the dead who came up in the second resurrection. They are judged, I believe, based on whether or not they followed the Spirit of God or Satan when they came back to life.
The Pastor from COG7D also believed Christ fulfilled the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7 when He told the people they could come to Him and drink of the living water. Again, Christ is giving those who seek Him that living water (Holy Spirit) now, but it is not fulfilled until Christ changes us into spirit at the Second Coming. We also need to remember the living water will be given to all remaining flesh during the Millennium and during the second resurrection period (Joel 2:28; Isaiah 32:15; Ezekiel 39:29; Zechariah 12:10).
Read Ezekiel 16:53-63 carefully. Note that this prophecy concerns Israel, Sodom, and Samaria being put back into their land and God making a covenant with them. Finally, in verse 63 it says God will make atonement for all they have done! This is yet future folks! God’s atonement and salvation for others has not yet occurred and we are on the road to our atonement.
The COG7D pastor had no conception of the symbolism of the Last Great Day. Without that understanding he believed God was only saving people now. That there is no future salvation for people if they don’t accept Christ now.
My final point was to bring up Colossians 2:16-17. Here it is made clear that the future fall holy days have not been fulfilled yet in Christ’s First Coming. I asked why Gentile Christians (Colossians) would be keeping God’s holy days years after Christ’s resurrection. But verse 17 makes it clear that some of these holy days and the Sabbath are a shadow of things to come! The things to come are the fulfillment of the fall holy days and resting in the millennial Sabbath also in Jesus Christ just like Unleavened Bread and Pentecost have been fulfilled in Christ.
We are not saved by keeping the holy days; we are being obedient to our Father in heaven just like our elder brother Jesus Christ was. Keep on keeping the holy days.
Source: The Symbolism of the Azazel Goat, by Ralph D. Levy, Bethesda: International Scholars Publications, 1998.