These are questions I have been asking myself for two or three years now. I have realized, as of late, that there is obviously a consequence or Paul would have said nothing to the Galatians.
He would not have told them that they were alienating themselves from Christ, had fallen away from Grace. He would not have told them that Christ would be of no value to them at all.
If you do not keep the Holy Days or the Sabbath... guess what? Your salvation is not in jeopardy! I repeat, you, by no means, jeopardize your salvation by not keeping Sabbaths! There is nothing wrong, however, with observing them if you realize it is no longer commanded, as long as you know it's not a command and that salvation cannot be attained, or get you closer to attaining it by doing so.
Consider the following verses: Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
[If you can gain salvation by keeping the Sabbaths, then.. Christ.. died.. for..nothing. And if He died for nothing, He is of no value to you.
Consequence: If He is of no value to you, He cannot dwell within you, no Holy Spirit, because you are cut off from Him.]
Gal. 5:2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
[Notice his statement; "Mark my words" i.e.; "I'm warning you. If you rely on O.C. laws for salvation, Christ will be of no value to you at all."
Consequence: If Christ is of no value to you, you do not have Christ dwelling in you. He cannot pay your debt if you are relying on O.C.]
Gal.2:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."
[If you believe that keeping the Sabbaths are a requirement for attaining salvation, then you are under a curse because if you don't keep the law in it's entirety, flawlessly, you cannot be credited righteousness.
Consequence: Since, obviously, everyone sins; without repentance, on this path you will not be part of the Bride.]
Gal. 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
[If you rely on the O.C. laws for salvation, Christ is of no value to you- meaning; rather than receive salvation through Him, you are attempting to gain it by your own efforts.
Consequence: Without repentance, you are destined for the pit, because there is no such thing as a perfect human, and perfect is what you'd have to be in order to obtain righteousness though O.C. observances. You cannot have the Holy Spirit if you are cut off from Christ. You cannot receive the grace you have fallen away from.]
Gal. 4:30 But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."
31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
[The analogy that Paul uses here, of the two women, is so clear. The Slave Woman is the Old Covenant. The Free Woman is the New Covenant. We are not children of the Old Covenant, but of the New Covenant.
Consequence: Those who keep Old Covenant laws because they believe they are required to, will not inherit with the Bride of Christ. You will not be part of the Bride of Christ.]
Gal.3:11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."
12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
Now, I know some, if not all of you don't believe you are keeping the Old Covenant, but you are.
Why do I say this? How do I know? Because the Bible makes it quite clear. The Sabbaths are Old Covenant, that is; the Mount Sinai law, which was given to the Israelites. Jesus ended that Contract when He died on the cross to pay our debt for the sins we commit and have committed. Which brought into effect, the New Contract.
Don't be so easily fooled into thinking that you are to keep things from the O.C. because you think Jesus magnified the law. He did not!
For goodness sake, surely you realize that contracts can have similarities. Do you think that if God were to give you a new contract, that it could not contain anything about Love?
God can make as many contracts as He chooses and everyone of them can and will be about Love. Do you think God was so shortsighted that He used up His one contract that could contain Love? Do you really think that if He makes a new contract and it doesn't use the ten examples written in stone, of what Love is and isn't, that it means this new contract permits sin!? Of course it doesn't.
Do you really need God to spell out for you what Love is? The ten items written in stone were merely ten examples of what Love is and is not, which didn't even include every sin that man has committed! It doesn't mention pedophilia, but that doesn't mean it's not a sin! So why would you think that by not being under the ten commandments, (part of the Old Contract), that it would mean sinning is okay?
You are keeping the old contract/covenant, you are not keeping a modified or amplified contract. That is not permitted! Paul tells us this is so;
Gal.3:15 Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.
So you see that the contract could not have been modified or amplified in any way!
As Christians we should know what we believe, and we should know why we believe it. At some point in time we should be able to somewhat easily lay it out for others who may ask us about what and why we believe what we do.
Read the book of Galatians and do some thinking. You are intelligent, and I know you want God's truth.
I know that if you read something in the Bible that doesn't quite fit with your current beliefs or make sense, you will ponder over it and consider it rather than just read past it and ignore it, because we are seekers of truth, and as such, we pour through the scriptures with the goal of getting to know God and learning about the things that will please Him. We are on a quest for truth. It's an ongoing education, so we may have to say; "Well, as I understand it at this point in time, I believe/think it means..."
You know what I think about the quest for truth and how to find it?
It's pretty simple actually;
1)WANT THE TRUTH
if you don't truly want it, you won't get it
2)DON'T ASK OTHERS WHAT THEY THINK THE TRUTH IS
leave it to God to reveal this, He is smarter than people
3)TELL GOD YOU WANT THE TRUTH
now that you know you want it, you need to tell Him you want it
4)TELL GOD YOU HAVE NO PREFERENCES FOR WHAT THE TRUTH IS
for me, I told Him; "It doesn't matter to me; if I am required to keep Sabbaths fine, if I am not required to, fine. I am only interested in pleasing you."
5)TELL GOD YOU ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN PLEASING HIM
we have no one to be loyal to but Him
6)GET A THREE RING BINDER WITH POCKETED SUBJECT DIVIDERS
this is better than a notebook, as it is easy to rewrite, add, and rearrange papers, the pockets/pouches are good for loose and/or small items
7)MARK THE SUBJECT(S) YOU WILL BE STUDYING IN YOUR BINDER
some of mine are; "Did Jesus have a beginning?"; "144,000"; "Accepting Jesus on the death bed"; "Do we need to be taught by others?"; "Old/New covenant"; "Names of Jesus"
8)OPEN YOUR BIBLE
9)OPEN YOUR PAPER OR ONLINE INTERLINEAR
this is necessary for examining the Greek or Hebrew word in question
10)OPEN YOUR PAPER OR ONLINE GREEK/HEBREW DICTIONARY
this is necessary for examining the Greek or Hebrew word definitions for better understanding of a words meaning and translation
11)ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU HIS TRUTH
12)BEGIN TRACKING YOUR SCRIPTURES;
you will need to refer back to these frequently to remember what you are learning, they are also your references when sharing what you have learned with others.
13)BE WILLING TO INVEST TIME INTO YOUR QUEST
this is an ongoing commitment; Jer. 30:21 "...for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?' declares the LORD."
So, what is the fate of the old covenant keepers? My understanding at this time is: Without repentance;
* alienated from Christ and thus,
* do not receive the Holy Spirit, the deposit, the guarantee of inheritance,
* not an heir with Christ
* not the Bride of Christ,
* destiny?...the pit.
With repentance;
* not the bride of Christ, and if not the Bride...
* destiny?...second resurrection...
*... so where is your place in the Kingdom as one who is not part of the Bride?
I am interested in truth so, if anyone has any other insight on this subject, I would be happy to examine it if you would like to add something or if you feel I have overlooked something, or...