Blue Law Christianity - Introduction

Dr. Michael Richardson - Mark 7:7

Introduction:
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A. Mark 7:7 “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”  
B. Blue Laws are laws prohibiting certain activities such as shopping on Sunday.
C. In fact, you may think of  them as “Sunday Laws”.

D. A good number of them are still on the books and are basically ignored today
E. Many of them were created during the Colonial period. A period that lasted from 1607-1776.
F. Few Americans today understand that what we call the United States of America was a colony of  
    England for 169 years. If you add 169 years to 1776 it would bring you to the year 1945 the year
    of my oldest sister’s birth.
G. The term Blue Law was first used in 1755.
H. It referred to the blue paper on which the Puritans printed the law.
I. Punishment for violating these blue laws could range from a financial fine, jail time, or time spent
   in a pillory.
J. Today, when we read these seemingly arbitrary laws, we find them quite amusing such as:

• In the state of Wisconsin, it is illegal to eat ice cream on Sundays  
• In North Dakota it is illegal to sell pretzels with beer
• In Ohio it is illegal for women to wear patented leather shoes
• In Connecticut it is illegal for a barber to hum while he cuts a head of hair
• In Florida it is illegal to have intimate physical relations with a porcupine
• In New Hampshire it is illegal to collect and carry away seaweed at night
• Again in North Dakota it is illegal to wear a hat while dancing
• In Tennessee students may not hold hands while at school
• In Nicholas County West Virginia it is illegal for a minister to tell an amusing story or a joke from the pulpit
• Again in West Virginia it is illegal to whistle under water
• In Huntington West Virginia it was legal to beat your wife as long as it was done on a Sunday and on the court-house steps
• And finally, my favorite—In Vermont, a wife must get written permission from her husband to wear false teeth in public!

K. However, many well-meaning Christians unwittingly have their own kind of arbitrary “blue laws”
     concerning the doctrine of salvation that are just not found in the BibleL. 
L. Unfortunately, their “blue laws” are not found on blue paper but in their hearts and their minds
M. “Today I want to discuss some arbitrary “Blue Laws” that some Christians add to the issue of
     salvation, the results of these “Blue Laws” and then what the Bible really says about the terms of
​     salvation.