Do modern Sabbatarians actually keep the Sabbath?

[Joyful]

Love doesnt need the Law its perfectly fine without it.

All Jesus' teachings are Christians' law.

 

[Barrd]

David was theperfect example of Gods grace

Funny things is if every one walked in love there would eb no need for the law. If all the worlds laws where removed. Most people would not steal, cheat. murder etc etc becausey they know it s wrong, see love is based on " do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

So if you dont steal you dont expect them to steal if you dont murder you dont expect them to murder.

Love doesnt need the Law its perfectly fine without it.

In All His Love

Yes...if we were perfect, we would not need the law. What a lovely thought!
However, look around you, my dear.
Put the rose-colored glasses down, and really LOOK...

Yes, it is Christians doing those things!!!!!!!

Christians stealing???? Oh, my dear! Turn on your television set and watch those "televangelists" at work! But first, hide your checkbook!! Those clowns are wearing more money than most of their vewers will see in a year. Designer clothes, expensive jewelry...and don't forget the perfect hair, and the perfect skin....and most of them drive right past the homeless shelter on the way to the television station. Excuse me....their driver drives right past the homeless shelter...

And murder? What do you call abortion? Yeah...those are Christians sitting in those chairs waiting their turn...and even worse, those are CHRISTIANS supporting this brutality!

Every commandment I listed has been broken by Christians. Every. Single. One.

Do you think every Christian actually loves his enemies? Most of 'em don't even love their friends!

It's not a pretty world, Sweetie.
Perhaps that is because it is a fallen world....

And as long as we live in this fallen world, we do need the law.

 

[Barrd]

All Jesus' teachings are Christians' law.

Exactly so.
ALL Jesus' teachings are law.
And what did Jesus say?

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

I love Him. Therefore I will strive to keep His commandments...

 

[heretoeternity]

Exactly so.
ALL Jesus' teachings are law.
And what did Jesus say?

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

I love Him. Therefore I will strive to keep His commandments..






Excellent post....it sums everything up nicely! .

 

[Deborah_]

What sort of image does the word ‘Sabbath’ evoke? Maybe one of the early scenes in the film Chariots of Fire, where we see the devout Christian athlete Eric Liddell telling off some young boys for playing football on a Sunday. (As the film also showed, he himself refused to run a Sunday heat in the 1924 Olympics, thus forfeiting an almost certain place in the 100m final). For most people, the Sabbath has only negative connotations: no work, and no play either.

Originally the Sabbath was the most sacred day of all, because it belonged to God. It had to be a day of complete rest; all forms of work (even the preparation of food) were forbidden (Leviticus 23:3). But it also became a day for worship and for study of the Law. It was intended as a ‘sign’ – one of the things that made Israel distinct from all other nations (Ezekiel 20:12). This would have been especially obvious during the ‘Sabbatical year’ every seventh year, when no agricultural work was to be done at all and the land itself would have a chance to rest (Leviticus 25:1-7).

The Sabbath was also a prophetic sign (Colossians 2:16,17); it was a foretaste of life in the age to come (Hebrews 4:9,10), pointing forward to the ‘rest’ that all believers will enjoy in Christ. It was a regular reminder that our lives are ultimately not in our own hands, but in God’s – and thus it is a rebuke to all ‘workaholics’, secular or spiritual (Psalm 127:1,2). To keep the Sabbath requires us to ‘lose’ a day’s labour and income, to resist the pressures of commerce and the lure of overtime. This makes it not a negative exercise but an positive act of faith in God - the God who will look after those who honour Him.

The Christian Sunday is not exactly equivalent to the Jewish Sabbath. It began not as a day of rest but as a day of celebration – a weekly reminder of the Resurrection. The first day of the week (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2) was the day on which the early Christians met together (if they were Jews, they usually went to synagogue as well, the day before – Acts 18:26). In time, the day of rest was moved to join the day of worship. But there is no New Testament ‘rule’ about this. Even in the early Church, there were differences of opinion – and Paul urged believers to be ‘relaxed’ about it (Romans 14:5,6).

So should we Gentile Christians observe a Sabbath? I think we should. Firstly, when Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5), He was surely affirming the Sabbath, not abolishing it – and if we observe it, we do so in His honour. Secondly, human nature has not changed since God created us, and our need for physical rest and refreshment is as great under the New Covenant as under the Old. Why do people complain so much about busy, stressful lives? If you work continuously with no Sabbath break, then you are a slave.

So yes – we need a day off once a week, and for the same reasons that the Israelites did: it’s good for us, it’s a witness to unbelievers, and it gives us opportunity to cultivate our relationship with God. And it gives us space in an otherwise full week to have meaningful interactions with other people (such as our families).

 

[Barrd]

What sort of image does the word ‘Sabbath’ evoke? Maybe one of the early scenes in the film Chariots of Fire, where we see the devout Christian athlete Eric Liddell telling off some young boys for playing football on a Sunday. (As the film also showed, he himself refused to run a Sunday heat in the 1924 Olympics, thus forfeiting an almost certain place in the 100m final). For most people, the Sabbath has only negative connotations: no work, and no play either.

Originally the Sabbath was the most sacred day of all, because it belonged to God. It had to be a day of complete rest; all forms of work (even the preparation of food) were forbidden (Leviticus 23:3). But it also became a day for worship and for study of the Law. It was intended as a ‘sign’ – one of the things that made Israel distinct from all other nations (Ezekiel 20:12). This would have been especially obvious during the ‘Sabbatical year’ every seventh year, when no agricultural work was to be done at all and the land itself would have a chance to rest (Leviticus 25:1-7).

The Sabbath was also a prophetic sign (Colossians 2:16,17); it was a foretaste of life in the age to come (Hebrews 4:9,10), pointing forward to the ‘rest’ that all believers will enjoy in Christ. It was a regular reminder that our lives are ultimately not in our own hands, but in God’s – and thus it is a rebuke to all ‘workaholics’, secular or spiritual (Psalm 127:1,2). To keep the Sabbath requires us to ‘lose’ a day’s labour and income, to resist the pressures of commerce and the lure of overtime. This makes it not a negative exercise but an positive act of faith in God - the God who will look after those who honour Him.

The Christian Sunday is not exactly equivalent to the Jewish Sabbath. It began not as a day of rest but as a day of celebration – a weekly reminder of the Resurrection. The first day of the week (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2) was the day on which the early Christians met together (if they were Jews, they usually went to synagogue as well, the day before – Acts 18:26). In time, the day of rest was moved to join the day of worship. But there is no New Testament ‘rule’ about this. Even in the early Church, there were differences of opinion – and Paul urged believers to be ‘relaxed’ about it (Romans 14:5,6).

So should we Gentile Christians observe a Sabbath? I think we should. Firstly, when Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5), He was surely affirming the Sabbath, not abolishing it – and if we observe it, we do so in His honour. Secondly, human nature has not changed since God created us, and our need for physical rest and refreshment is as great under the New Covenant as under the Old. Why do people complain so much about busy, stressful lives? If you work continuously with no Sabbath break, then you are a slave.

So yes – we need a day off once a week, and for the same reasons that the Israelites did: it’s good for us, it’s a witness to unbelievers, and it gives us opportunity to cultivate our relationship with God. And it gives us space in an otherwise full week to have meaningful interactions with other people (such as our families).

The need for a day of rest has not changed.
Neither has the law that requires it.

 

[mjrhealth]

Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Heb 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief

Simple, those who have not eneterd into His rest will insist on teh old law( the old wine) and will labour after something that is not. That is a work...

In all His Love

 

[heretoeternity]

Genesis 2 God rested on the seventh day of the first week, He blessed it and made the day Holy (sanctified it)
Exodus 20 He made it the fourth Commandment in the ten commandment "REMEMBER the Sabbath day to keep it Holy....it was written by God Himself in stone...
Now "christians" think they can follow the Roman pagan based system and be saved with their pagan based day of sunday, the first day of the week....while turning their backs on God's commanded day....Must be a real power trip to play God, and think you can make days Holy....but they should remember
Salvation is through the Son of God, God's grace and commandments and NOT the sungod satan and His doctrines and days of sunday, dec 25th and easter all of which are non Biblical and of pagan origin....

 

[heretoeternity]

What sort of image does the word ‘Sabbath’ evoke? Maybe one of the early scenes in the film Chariots of Fire, where we see the devout Christian athlete Eric Liddell telling off some young boys for playing football on a Sunday. (As the film also showed, he himself refused to run a Sunday heat in the 1924 Olympics, thus forfeiting an almost certain place in the 100m final). For most people, the Sabbath has only negative connotations: no work, and no play either.

Originally the Sabbath was the most sacred day of all, because it belonged to God. It had to be a day of complete rest; all forms of work (even the preparation of food) were forbidden (Leviticus 23:3). But it also became a day for worship and for study of the Law. It was intended as a ‘sign’ – one of the things that made Israel distinct from all other nations (Ezekiel 20:12). This would have been especially obvious during the ‘Sabbatical year’ every seventh year, when no agricultural work was to be done at all and the land itself would have a chance to rest (Leviticus 25:1-7).

The Sabbath was also a prophetic sign (Colossians 2:16,17); it was a foretaste of life in the age to come (Hebrews 4:9,10), pointing forward to the ‘rest’ that all believers will enjoy in Christ. It was a regular reminder that our lives are ultimately not in our own hands, but in God’s – and thus it is a rebuke to all ‘workaholics’, secular or spiritual (Psalm 127:1,2). To keep the Sabbath requires us to ‘lose’ a day’s labour and income, to resist the pressures of commerce and the lure of overtime. This makes it not a negative exercise but an positive act of faith in God - the God who will look after those who honour Him.

The Christian Sunday is not exactly equivalent to the Jewish Sabbath. It began not as a day of rest but as a day of celebration – a weekly reminder of the Resurrection. The first day of the week (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2) was the day on which the early Christians met together (if they were Jews, they usually went to synagogue as well, the day before – Acts 18:26). In time, the day of rest was moved to join the day of worship. But there is no New Testament ‘rule’ about this. Even in the early Church, there were differences of opinion – and Paul urged believers to be ‘relaxed’ about it (Romans 14:5,6).

So should we Gentile Christians observe a Sabbath? I think we should. Firstly, when Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5), He was surely affirming the Sabbath, not abolishing it – and if we observe it, we do so in His honour. Secondly, human nature has not changed since God created us, and our need for physical rest and refreshment is as great under the New Covenant as under the Old. Why do people complain so much about busy, stressful lives? If you work continuously with no Sabbath break, then you are a slave.

So yes – we need a day off once a week, and for the same reasons that the Israelites did: it’s good for us, it’s a witness to unbelievers, and it gives us opportunity to cultivate our relationship with God. And it gives us space in an otherwise full week to have meaningful interactions with other people (such as our families).






The seventh day Sabbath is the still the most sacred day of all if you are a Christian, and you can keep it every Saturday (seventh day)...it comes right from Creation Genesis 2...God created the seventh day of the week especially as a rest (sabbath day)..He blessed it, and set it aside for holy purposes (sanctified) it....He later commanded it in the Ten commandments....iti s all very straight forward...NO other day was given the same divine blessing!....unless of course you follow the pagan Roman system..where the pope made sunday, dec 25th and easter holy..but those are the traditions of man and NOT the commandments of God....so who you want to follow..God, or the pope?

 

[iakov]

The seventh day Sabbath is the still the most sacred day of all if you are a Christian, and you can keep it every Saturday (seventh day)...it comes right from Creation Genesis 2...God created the seventh day of the week especially as a rest (sabbath day)..He blessed it, and set it aside for holy purposes (sanctified) it....He later commanded it in the Ten commandments....iti s all very straight forward...NO other day was given the same divine blessing!....unless of course you follow the pagan Roman system..where the pope made sunday, dec 25th and easter holy..but those are the traditions of man and NOT the commandments of God....so who you want to follow..God, or the pope?

The Day of Resurrection (Sunday) is more holy than the Sabbath which was a shadow of the day when believers would rest from the works of the law.

The "Roman system" as you define it in your ignorance, hatred and religious bigotry, has nothing to do with the Christian view of Sunday as the most holy of days because on that day mankind's salvation was made manifest by Jesus' resurrection. (How could you possibly not know that???!) It was celebrated from the very beginning of the existence of the church a full 1000 years before there was a "Roman" church or a Pope. (How did you not know that either???!)

The first record of Dec. 25 being the day of Jesus' birth was in 354 AD, again, about 700 years before there was a "Roman" Catholic church. (But you didn't know that, did you?) And the celebration of His birth on Dec.25th displaced the pagan celebrations of Saturnalia and the winter solstice. Only a few wanna-be pagan posers celebrate those days anymore. (Yeah, I know; that's news to you.)

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord and is only Called "Easter" in English speaking countries. In most of the rest of the world it is called by a variation of the name "Pascha". Pascha is a transliteration of the Greek word, which is itself a transliteration of the Hebrew pesach, both words meaning Passover. Christians celebrate it because the resurrection of the Lord is the one most important event in the entire history of creation not because some pope said to.(But you wouldn't know that either, would you???!)

If you weren't so focused on hate-mongering and religious bigotry, you might just learn something.

 

[heretoeternity]

Lakov...just learn to follow the Bible instead of your false pagan based teachings from the Roman system...you would know that

Salvation is through the Son of God, God's grace and commandments, and NOT the sungod/satan and his doctrines and days of sunday, dec 25th and easter, all of which are non Biblical and of pagan origin!

 

[shnarkle]

Act 15:22-29 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

Do you see anything about Gentiles keeping the Sabbath there?

No, I see that passage here in verse 19 through 21: "19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day."

Let me draw your attention to the fact that James is pointing out that these recently converted Christians from the gentile population don't need to have the entire Mosaic law read back to them due to the salient fact that they are able to listen to Moses being preached each and every Sabbath in the synagogues. He does think it advisable to point out the most important behaviors to avoid though including fornication, idolatry, and eating unclean animals (a direct reference to the dietary laws)

In Acts 13:42 Paul has a perfect opportunity to reveal to the gentiles that the Sabbath is no longer something that they need concern themselves with; that any day will do and therefore Paul will be preaching to them the very next day on the venerable day of the Sun; i.e. Sunday. He doesn't do that though; I guess he didn't get the memo.

"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath."

And what do we read of the events of the next Sabbath? "And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God." Obviously the whole city isn't observing the Sabbath because it's a law they're concerned with, but the fact is that Paul is still keeping the Sabbath long after Christ has gone to heaven.

 

[brakelite]

The seventh day Sabbath is the still the most sacred day of all if you are a Christian, and you can keep it every Saturday (seventh day)...it comes right from Creation Genesis 2...God created the seventh day of the week especially as a rest (sabbath day)..He blessed it, and set it aside for holy purposes (sanctified) it....He later commanded it in the Ten commandments....iti s all very straight forward...NO other day was given the same divine blessing!....unless of course you follow the pagan Roman system..where the pope made sunday, dec 25th and easter holy..but those are the traditions of man and NOT the commandments of God....so who you want to follow..God, or the pope?

The Day of Resurrection (Sunday) is more holy than the Sabbath which was a shadow of the day when believers would rest from the works of the law.

The "Roman system" as you define it in your ignorance, hatred and religious bigotry, has nothing to do with the Christian view of Sunday as the most holy of days because on that day mankind's salvation was made manifest by Jesus' resurrection. (How could you possibly not know that???!) It was celebrated from the very beginning of the existence of the church a full 1000 years before there was a "Roman" church or a Pope. (How did you not know that either???!)

The first record of Dec. 25 being the day of Jesus' birth was in 354 AD, again, about 700 years before there was a "Roman" Catholic church. (But you didn't know that, did you?) And the celebration of His birth on Dec.25th displaced the pagan celebrations of Saturnalia and the winter solstice. Only a few wanna-be pagan posers celebrate those days anymore. (Yeah, I know; that's news to you.)

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord and is only Called "Easter" in English speaking countries. In most of the rest of the world it is called by a variation of the name "Pascha". Pascha is a transliteration of the Greek word, which is itself a transliteration of the Hebrew pesach, both words meaning Passover. Christians celebrate it because the resurrection of the Lord is the one most important event in the entire history of creation not because some pope said to.(But you wouldn't know that either, would you???!)

If you weren't so focused on hate-mongering and religious bigotry, you might just learn something.

That is all well and good, and a very clear exposition of your beliefs. Thankyou. Interesting though that the only scripture you used was the very one that established the Sabbath...not one scripture in support of Sunday. Not surprising really as there isn't one. For your information, the bishops of Rome were called Popes before the 6th century. And the papacy itself began when she first became an autonomous church/state power structure, free from the dictates of either Emperor or Barbarian/Ostrogoth rule, in 538AD. when Belisarius ousted the Ostrogoths from Rome. Until then the Ostrrogoth Kings (Odoacer being the one defeated by Belisarius) had the final say as to who was to be Pope. From 538 on (with the odd times of exception) the Roman bishop/Pope (right or wrong) had the power to declare who was a heretic or not, and the authority to hand over such heretics to the state power for execution. This practice, the coalition between church and state, is a typically pagan arrangement, and one without which the papacy ceases to exercise the authority bestowed upon her by the dragon (see Revelation 13:2) through the Roman Emperor Vespasian. This church/state union was annulled in 1798 when the French General Berthier took the Pope captive and disbanded the college of cardinals declaring the papal states a republic. Exactly 1260 years was the duuration of the first stage in the life of this little horn power of Daniel 7 and the beast of Revel 13. The union however was re-established in 1929 with the signing of the Leteran Treaty with Mussolini, and every time you uphold Sunday, or teach the false doctrine of the trinity, you are re-establishing the Roman apostasy in the minds and hearts of people and supporting this Antichrist, as these two doctrines above all others are foundational and it is from them that all her other abominations are built, and neither of which has any explicit support from scripture. If you are Catholic, by all means, continue to practice your pagan traditions. If however you are not Catholic, and claim the Bible as the basis for your belief and practice, then it is time you reconsidered your position.Even Rome admits that neither the trinity nor Sunday sacredness are found in scripture...they are completely honest in claiming both as their own personal teaching based on tradition. Time Protestants did the same.

 

[shnarkle]

Birthdays? Does anyone really think it is wrong to celebrate your child's birth? Somehow, I just don't think God is going to send anyone to hell for having a clown and some birthday cake for their kid on his special day.
Even Halloween...some call it "Satan's day". Of course, it never was "Satan's day"....but even if he thinks he has some claim on it, surely it is a major kick in the old serpent's behind to have little children dressing up to mock him, having fun, and, of all things, collecting candy....oh, my! It's enough to send him whimperiing, back into the shadows....but God smiles at the sound of childish laughter...doesn't He?
But there's always some palooka out to ruin everyone's fun...

I hadn't really given this all that much thought, but something just jumped out at me in this post; "birthday cake" and "candy". On Thanksgiving, the constant refrain I hear from most people is that they stuffed their faces and put on a few pounds. Christmas is no different with people going out and buying stuff as if this is what giving is all about. The only true gift one can give is themselves. People eat a Christmas ham to celebrate the birth of a Jew who would rather hang on a cross than eat what translators euphemistically refer to as 'filth' or "pollution'. So we live in a culture that produces children with type II diabetes. Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions, (dare I say biblical proportions?) producing insulting medical care costs. We call it health care when it has nothing to do with being healthy, and this is somehow supposed to be bothering Satan; this is what people today call fun? I was eating a chocolate chip cookie when I read this and felt convicted; just thought I'd share that...