Sabbath-Keeping

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Born_Again

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Trekson,

Well put!! God knew we would stumble in our walk with Him. This is part of the reason Christ died for us. We are sinners, no two ways about it. God knows this, He still loves us, so He sent His only Son to die for us. Scripture says " Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy". I don't not feel this means completely rest. We must recognize this day but we can still do things. If I understand this correctly, the Jewish faith chose to make it a day of rest but it was not commanded by the Lord. Am I correct?
 

Trekson

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Hi Born again, No, it was commanded of God but over time, the Pharisees kept adding restrictions to the day until it became burdensome and turned into something God never required. That particular commandment to observe the sabbath is still in effect, but since the cross believers respect the sabbath in a spiritual way, not a legalistic one.
 
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sjmopas

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Hi Treskon,

I was just wondering if you keep the 7th day Sabbath or when you say, "believers respect the sabbath in a spiritual way" do you mean we keep the sabbath any day, at least once a week? I have know many brothers and sisters who go to church on Sunday who say the sabbath rest was transfered to a Sunday rest, because they believe Jesus was rose from the dead on Sunday. They would say that the new Sabbath (Sunday) has to be kept on Sunday. I also know many brothers and sisters who would say that the sabbath was done away with altogether, and that Sunday is not a new Sabbath, it is just the day they go to church, also based on their belief that Christ rose from the dead on Sunday.

It jsut seems to me that there are brothers and sisters who seperate the spiritual symbolism of the 7th day Sabbath from the physical blessing of rest. It seems like God's original intention, in the garden, before the law, was both spiritual and physical. I know that Christ was referring to marriage when He said, "What God has joined together, let no man separate." but I wonder if that same principle applies in regards to the Sabbath. Perhaps it is a great error to separate the spiritual symbolism and phyical reality of rest when it comes to the Sabbath.

I could be wrong, but it seems like there is no place in scripture Old and New Testament where the original listeners would have understood the Sabbath to refer to anything but the 7th day of the week. Unless of course it was a special feast day that fell on days 1-6. Could this still have implications for us today, even if we are only concerned with the spiritual symbolism?
 

Trekson

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Hi sjm, A thorough reading of the OP will answer most of your questions, but I will gladly answer any specifics after that.
 
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sjmopas

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Hi Trekson,

Thanks for pointing me to the OP. I dind't remember that you were the OP. One of the dificulties of these forums is remembering who said what, when and where they said it.

I am not a seventh day adventist or a Messianic Jew. I keep the Sabbath (for me that means that I do not work on the Sabbath) because I believe God's gift of Sabbath rest is still for His children. I do not believe or teach, nor does the denomination I serve under (A Sabatarian denomination), that Sabbath keeping is salvational. There is actually a lot that I disagree with about the seventh day adventist denomination, but in 25 years I have never known a seventh day adventist who believes that either. It's not until I joined this forum, last week, that I have seen some Sabbath keepers, who seem to confuse Sabbath keeping with going to church, who have made statements that seem like they believe Sabbath keeping is salvational. I'm not sure they are seventh day adventists.

It's just sad to me, that this has been a point of contention within the Body. I have met a lot of nonsabbath keeping Christians who are equally legalistic about not keeping the Sabbath as they claim Sabbath keepers are; they even say Sabbath keepers have lost their salvation.

Along with your OP it could also be said that many, not all, but many NonSabbath keeping denominations are erroniously teaching that Sabbath keeping costs a believer their salvation.
 

Enquirer

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I have in my possession the 2nd edition of a book entitled, "An Elementary History of the Book of Common Prayer" by Francis Proctor,
published in 1866 (it is still in excellent condition).
Francis Proctor was the Vicar of Witton in Norfolk England and a Late Fellow of St Catherine's College in Cambridge.
In this book he chronicles worship in the church from the time of Justin Martyr until his day.

I will quote a passage where he quotes Justin Martyr who lived circa A.D 100 to A.D 165, and so as can see that this was not too long after
the apostles.
This was how "they did church" not even a hundred years after the Apostles ... this is a typical Church service of that day.

"And on the day which is called Sunday there is an assembly in one place of all who dwell either in towns or the country; and the memoirs
of the Apostles or the writings of the Prophets are read, as long as time permits.
Then when the reader hath ceased, the president delivers a discourse, in which he reminds and exhorts them to the imitation of all these
good things.
We then all stand up together, and put forth prayers.
Then, as we have already said, when we cease from prayer, bread is brought, and wine, and water: and the president in like manner offers up
prayers and praises with his utmost power; and the people express their assent by saying, Amen.
The consecrated elements are then distributed and received by everyone; and a portion is sent by the deacons to those who are absent."

Justin Martyr.

Did you see that ? ... on the day called "Sunday" there is an assembly, the early church worshipped God on Sunday.
This whole Sabbath-day Keeping (Saturday) is just a major on a minor and not worth any argument or time to get bent out of shape over.
If, a Christian wants to worship God on a Saturday then good for him/her, but don't expect others to follow suite.
I worship God everyday of my life and set Sunday aside for corporate gathering with my local fellowship.
 

sjmopas

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Enquirer,

It took less than a year for the people of Israel to fall into apostasy. Even after seeing the plagues, the cloud by day, the fire by night, the mountain on fire, the sound of the trumpet, the quail, the manna, the water from the rock (twice), they still worshiped idols and turned from following the ways of God.

Even though Justin Martyr lived within a hundred years from the time of the apostles, it is just as possible for the church to have turned to practices that were not based on God's word. There is even evidence of that in the the NT epistles. There were men who were teaching all kinds of things contrary to God's word, and the doctrines of the apostles.

Historicly there is evidence that there were church leaders who mingled pagan practices with Christian lingo for some pretty flesly reasons.

I hope I am not coming across as hostile. Please forgive me if I am, it's not my intention.

I really take to heart the opinions of others and try to consider them with an open mind.
 

Enquirer

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No offense taken ... yes while it may be true that even during the apostles time the church had many issues, worship being one of them,
Paul clarified this in Romans 14:5-6,

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind
The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God,
while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

That is the bottom line.
What we need to keep in mind is that the Sabbath was not instituted in Eden (even though God rested from his work), nor during Noah's time, nor
during Abraham's time, it only became an institution under the Law.

In Ezekiel 20:10 - 12 it states,

So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live.
Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

So as we can see from the above scripture, the Sabbath was only given and made known by God to the Israelites at Sinai and the reason
it was given was as a sign that they might know "that I am the Lord who sanctifies them".
And as you have correctly stated, they added a whole bunch of other stuff onto it.

It would be a good question at this time to ask if we as Christians know that God is the One who sanctifies us ?
Do we know ? ... of course we know !

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1 Cor 1:30

Ask yourself this question, do you think that God changed his reason for the Sabbath and then reinstituted it in the New covenant
for a different reason ?
No, of course not, We as believers understand why it was given as per Ezekiel and we therefore meet it's criteria in knowing Christ as
our Sanctification.

In light of that Paul can clearly tell us that we can worship God on any given day as mentioned in Romans 14.
He further goes on to say in Col 2:16,

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Did the Christians have to observe festival, new moons or the Sabbath ... days that were special days for the those under the old covenant ?
No, no judgement if you don't observe them says Paul.
Christ is the substance, the fulfilment of the Law and the embodiment of all of these things which were mere shadows.

Colossians 2 is the supremacy of Christ over and above all things, the embodiment of God's will and the power of Heaven who encompasses
all things.
And it is in Him that we as Christians rest and fulfil the will of God.
 

Trekson

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Hi sjm, Your words: "Along with your OP it could also be said that many, not all, but many NonSabbath keeping denominations are erroniously teaching that Sabbath keeping costs a believer their salvation."

Gal. 5:4 - "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."

You see, there is a difference between keeping a "lawful" sabbath and just setting aside time to spend with God. A sabbath rest really depends on a person's lifestyle and it can be a variety of things from fishing/golfing to spending time with family to daily devotions. Personally, I've been unemployed for seven years and I'm pretty sick of "resting". Except for discussions such as this, the word "sabbath" really isn't part of my christian vocabulary.

As the above verse states, (specifically, it is speaking of circumcision but it has a much broader scope) if you keep a "lawful" sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and you restrict what you do because you believe that is what the "law" says then you have "lost" grace because you are serving the law. The law and grace can not be served together. It is in that manner that a person risks their salvation. If you live by the law in part of your life, you are duty bound to observe it in every aspect of your life. Since no one can successfully live by the law, the grace we receive under Christ doesn't count in that person's life because they have chosen law over grace. It's really just that simple.
 

sjmopas

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Enquirer said:
No offense taken ... yes while it may be true that even during the apostles time the church had many issues, worship being one of them,
Paul clarified this in Romans 14:5-6,

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind
The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God,
while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

I wonder if Paul would have called
'the day" "Sabbath" if that was what he was talking about. I believe this is one of a few shakey verses to use in trying to establish the idea that the Sabbath has been done away with.



That is the bottom line.
What we need to keep in mind is that the Sabbath was not instituted in Eden (even though God rested from his work), nor during Noah's time, nor
during Abraham's time, it only became an institution under the Law.

In Genesis 2 it says that two things happened on the 7th day, God rested and He sanctified it. Who was the Sabbath sanctified for? Why would it have been mentioned if it was sanctified for God?

In Ezekiel 20:10 - 12 it states,

So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live.
Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

The words "Sabbath" and "Sabbaths" can reffer to more than one thing. A Sabbath was not only seen as the 7th day of the week but an individual feast or day within a feast that was a high day, even if it fell on a day other then the 7th day. The word "Sabbath" would have been used to reffer to all three. The word "Sabbaths" was used to reffer to multiple 7th days, and it was also used when talking about the annual feasts of Israel. In the context of Ezekiel 20, God tells the prophet that He would again accept the offerings of firstfruits from the Israelites. To me, it seems that this passage is reffering to the annual feasts.

So as we can see from the above scripture, the Sabbath was only given and made known by God to the Israelites at Sinai and the reason
it was given was as a sign that they might know "that I am the Lord who sanctifies them".
And as you have correctly stated, they added a whole bunch of other stuff onto it.

In Exodus 16, well before the Israelites arrived at Sinai, God gave them the 7th day; this was before the law, this was before the 10 commandments.

It would be a good question at this time to ask if we as Christians know that God is the One who sanctifies us ?
Do we know ? ... of course we know !

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1 Cor 1:30

Ask yourself this question, do you think that God changed his reason for the Sabbath and then reinstituted it in the New covenant
for a different reason ?
No, of course not, We as believers understand why it was given as per Ezekiel and we therefore meet it's criteria in knowing Christ as
our Sanctification.

In light of that Paul can clearly tell us that we can worship God on any given day as mentioned in Romans 14.
He further goes on to say in Col 2:16,

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Again here, I believe Paul is reffering to the annual feasts, not the weekly Sabbath.

Did the Christians have to observe festival, new moons or the Sabbath ... days that were special days for the those under the old covenant ?
No, no judgement if you don't observe them says Paul.
Christ is the substance, the fulfilment of the Law and the embodiment of all of these things which were mere shadows.

Colossians 2 is the supremacy of Christ over and above all things, the embodiment of God's will and the power of Heaven who encompasses
all things.
And it is in Him that we as Christians rest and fulfil the will of God.
 
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brakelite

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@Trekson....your original op is flawed in one major respect. The commandment says 'remember to keep holy the Sabbath day'. Your op however was a treatise that dealt solely with man's holiness accomplished through Christ's sacrifice. This has little direct relationship to keeping a day holy. It was God that sanctifed, and made holy the 7th day. Nowhere in all of scripture is there any record of God making the 7th day 'unholy', or 'unsanctfied'. The commandment is for man to keep it that way. It is the day that is still holy. It is the day that is still sanctified.
 

Trekson

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Hi Brakelite, Your words: "It was God that sanctified, and made holy the 7th day. Nowhere in all of scripture is there any record of God making the 7th day 'unholy', or 'unsanctified'. The commandment is for man to keep it that way. It is the day that is still holy. It is the day that is still sanctified."

Let's take a look at that passage: Ex. 20:8-11 - "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."

The same word, "qadash" (H6942) is used for "holy" and "hallowed". It means to "be, make, pronounce, observe, to be ceremonially or morally clean, consecrate, dedicate, keep, prepare, proclaim and to purify or sanctify oneself."

This is different from the word "qodesh" (H6944) which means a sacred place or thing which is set set aside for a holy purpose using the words consecrated, dedicated, hallowed, saint, sanctuary.

It seems to me you are viewing the sabbath from the second definition instead of the first. We, as believers are, ceremonially and morally clean, we observe the sabbath daily, not every 7th day, we consecrate and dedicate ourselves unto God, we strive to keep ourselves pure, sanctified unto God.

It's the difference between the old covenant and the new. The Holy Spirit inside us makes all the difference in the world. A church is just a building, the land it is on is just dirt and grass, an unused bible is just another book on the shelf. None of these things are holy by themselves. What makes them holy is our presence in the building we call a church and hallowed ground is wherever we are. The bible only becomes holy when it is read and absorbed by those thirsty to hear the words of God, but if we don't apply those words to our lives and make God's word a reality, then it's the same as being background static. It's of no effect.

It's the same with the sabbath day. If one doesn't have a relationship with God, it's just another day, however, in the new covenant, every day is to be set aside to live for the glory and honor of God. Again, it's the Holy Spirit inside us that makes every day holy and if every day is holy, there is no longer the need to specify a single day separate from the rest. Remember, the sabbath wasn't made for God, it was made for man by God. There's a difference.
 

Zog Has-fallen

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Trekson said:
What was the original purpose of the Sabbath?
The mystery of the Sabbath causes me great perplexity. I can only imagine that it was meant to foreshadow a startling new revelation. The best comparison that I can think of is the sign that Christ created in the heavens when He made some stars go supernova before humankind was created. In that instance, exploding stars and creation itself foreshadowed the fall of man. Likewise, there must be some lesson about new epochs in the fact that humankind would eventually realize that Sabbath-keeping is impossible on a round earth.
 

Born_Again

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I just realized what his screen name meant....... Glad it's disabled.
 
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brakelite

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Trekson said:
Hi Brakelite, Your words: "It was God that sanctified, and made holy the 7th day. Nowhere in all of scripture is there any record of God making the 7th day 'unholy', or 'unsanctified'. The commandment is for man to keep it that way. It is the day that is still holy. It is the day that is still sanctified."

Let's take a look at that passage: Ex. 20:8-11 - "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."

The same word, "qadash" (H6942) is used for "holy" and "hallowed". It means to "be, make, pronounce, observe, to be ceremonially or morally clean, consecrate, dedicate, keep, prepare, proclaim and to purify or sanctify oneself."

This is different from the word "qodesh" (H6944) which means a sacred place or thing which is set set aside for a holy purpose using the words consecrated, dedicated, hallowed, saint, sanctuary.

It seems to me you are viewing the sabbath from the second definition instead of the first. We, as believers are, ceremonially and morally clean, we observe the sabbath daily, not every 7th day, we consecrate and dedicate ourselves unto God, we strive to keep ourselves pure, sanctified unto God.

It's the difference between the old covenant and the new. The Holy Spirit inside us makes all the difference in the world. A church is just a building, the land it is on is just dirt and grass, an unused bible is just another book on the shelf. None of these things are holy by themselves. What makes them holy is our presence in the building we call a church and hallowed ground is wherever we are. The bible only becomes holy when it is read and absorbed by those thirsty to hear the words of God, but if we don't apply those words to our lives and make God's word a reality, then it's the same as being background static. It's of no effect.

It's the same with the sabbath day. If one doesn't have a relationship with God, it's just another day, however, in the new covenant, every day is to be set aside to live for the glory and honor of God. Again, it's the Holy Spirit inside us that makes every day holy and if every day is holy, there is no longer the need to specify a single day separate from the rest. Remember, the sabbath wasn't made for God, it was made for man by God. There's a difference.
Interesting response, and a persective I had not consdered. Yes, in Exodus 20:8 we are admonished to keep the Sabbath holy, something we are to do by our obedience to the commandment through not partaking of common labour and work on that day, thus maintaining what God has already established...that is not profaning it or desecrating it...making unholy that which is holy. And yes, I am saying the day is already holy made so by God making it so. See the following...
Exo 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
Exo 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Exo 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Exo 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
Exo 31:17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

In both the above examples, (and compare Ezek.22:8,26) and others, that the Sabbath is included as a holy thing. Not something that is made holy by our observance, but something that is already holy and kept so by us. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. If it is as you say, the Sabbath is made holy by our observance, then we become its lord. You are advocating we replace the Lordship of Christ by our own authority...something the Antichrist already did when he replaced the Sabbath with Sunday.
 

haz

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Christians are spiritual. Thus we look towards entering into God's rest, the spiritual Sabbath (not a physical day).

Heb 4:11
11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience
 

Trekson

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Hi Brakelite, Your words: "Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. If it is as you say, the Sabbath is made holy by our observance, then we become its lord. You are advocating we replace the Lordship of Christ by our own authority...something the Antichrist already did when he replaced the Sabbath with Sunday."

I believe phraseology is very important to understanding the scriptures. Actually, the bible does NOT say that Jesus is Lord of the sabbath. Let's look at it from Christ's own words in Mark 2:27-28 - "And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."

When Christ uses the phrase 'Son of man" (which is done 88 times) he is speaking of His humanity, not his deity. It is also His way of proclaiming his Messiahship as he knew that most Jews would be familiar with the prophecy of Dan. 7:13 - "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him."

So he is in effect saying, that as a MAN, He is Lord of the sabbath. As Christians, Christ taught us that we aren't supposed to try and squeeze the law into our lives. We are a new creation separate from the law. That is what he meant when he taught that "you can't put new wine into old wineskins". We are the new wine and the law is the old wineskin! Let's see what else he said about this subject. Matt. 12:5-8 - "Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day."

Seeing as how we are "kings and priests" - REv. 1:6 - "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." and have become "joint-heirs" with Christ (Rom. 8:17) We don't "replace" Christ as lords of the sabbath, we unite with him as lords of the sabbath!

If the sabbath were to be given the place you want in our lives then as a law the Lawgiver would also not be allowed to work on the sabbath and wouldn't that be a sad thing indeed if God refused to hear our prayers if they are offered on a "sabbath" day, but seeing as how God DOES NOT rest on a sabbath and He is the Head and we are His Body, why should we? He certainly, by His "example" wouldn't want us to cease doing good on the sabbath and what is "good" is always being redefined by place, time and culture. So, if a man has to work on a Saturday or Sunday as part of his job responsibilities to feed his family, that would be considered a "good" thing and he would be as blameless as the aforementioned priests who had to work on the Jewish sabbath.
 
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brakelite

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The scriptures inform us that Jesus 'went about doing good....'. I think that we would be safe if we thought that every day Jesus did good, and that the arrival each week of the 7th day, the Sabbath, did nothing to dissuade Jesus to continue to do good. This however was in no wise an example of how breaking the Sabbath was now to be established as a Christian principle, but rather a rebuke to the Pharisees and Saducees and Lawyers of His day (and ours) that forbidding to do good on the Sabbath was not in accord with God's will or practice.
Jesus was not advocating an abandonment of the Sabbath, but rather demonstrating a correct attitude toward it.
I agree fully with your perspective in that here are those who need to work on the Sabbath as part and parcel of 'doing good'. Jesus explained this powerfully when He rebuked the teachers concerning the pulling of an animal from a ditch. Acts of mercy are entirely appropriate on the Sabbath, just as they are any other day of the week. Common labor however (like doing the laundry, mowing lawns, digging the garden , buying and selling etc) ought to be left for the other 6 days.
As to your perspective on the 'Son of man', this is something I have not heard before, and something I cannot at his time respond to. I need to think about and pray about that. It is an interesting concept, worthy of more consideration.
 

Trekson

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Hi Brakelite, Your words: "Common labor however (like doing the laundry, mowing lawns, digging the garden , buying and selling etc) ought to be left for the other 6 days."

Either we are free from all restrictions or we're free from none. You can't have it both ways. Either we are called to liberty or we are not. If we consider every day the sabbath on what day do you suggest we do the "least of these" chores? By the way, you know what Christ said about the least of these; they become the greatest. It is when we are in our "every day" drudgeries, doing what needs to be done is a way where one spouse is "honoring" the other by just performing their daily tasks, which is a "good" thing! As Christ showed Peter in his vision that the dietary laws were no longer meaningful and that Gentiles are to be given the right to be "clean" as well, so goes the judgment on Sabbath works. There are no longer any restrictions whatsoever. Looking at it from the opposite end, does an unsaved sinner become "more" sinful when he sins on the sabbath? I think not.
 
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brakelite

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"Either we are called to liberty or we are not.". Are you suggesting that the liberty we are called to is a freedom from restrictions? Is that how tyou view God's law or His Ten Commandments? A set of restrictions? God's call to you as a husband to be faithful to your wife is a restriction? A commandment of bondage perhaps?

You grossly misunderstand liberty if that is the case. The liberty we are called to is a freedom from sin. Freedom from disobedience, not freedom from obedience. As to the Sabbath, God is giving us liberty from worldy cares and pursuits so we can focus on Him without distraction. That is true liberty.
 
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