The vast majority of Christians have been taught that since the "law is spiritual" and we are carnal, no human will ever be able to meet the requirements of the perfect law in his or her lifetime. Is this true?

Has God really given us a law that is a great idealistic but impossible goal toward which converted souls should struggle to meet but never expect to attain? Is there some hidden reservation or secret meaning in the many commands to obey the law God wrote on stone? Or did God mean what He said and say what He meant?

Many teach that only Christ could have obeyed that law and only because He had special powers that have not been made available to anyone else. Certainly it is true ...

Let's first take a look at the apostle Paul's words in Colossians 2:14-17: "Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ... So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ."

When some read about the sabbath days that were shadows and that passed away at the cross, they think that Paul was referring to the weekly Sabbath, the fourth of the Ten Commandments. Is this accurate? It's important to get this right, because our interpretation of the apostle's actual meaning ...

It's true that when God first instituted the Sabbath in Eden, He made no mention of going to church on that day; He just set it aside for a holy purpose, which He would expand upon at a later time. (See Genesis 2:1-3.) And in Exodus, He did indeed give us more details about the specifics of that holy day in the Ten Commandments. Still, the Ten Commandments give no instruction that we are to gather together for worship on that day. They just give guidelines on what it means to keep it holy. (See Exodus 20:8-11.)

But as we move forward in Scripture, we come across an enlightening verse in Leviticus: "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no ...