Why Do Christians Not Honor The Sabbath?

[mjrhealth]

Sabbath, is a day of rest from our works. Jesus has become our Sabbath Rest. if we abide in Him than we rest in Him, we rest from our works,He has accomplished it all, to keep the sabbath, you need to keep all the law, and thats where this will end up going. You cant pick and choose, and that means you are under the law, no matter how you look at it, And that means no salvation, it is by grace we are saved not by our works, The law does one thing, it shows us we are sinners, It is either Jesus or the Law, salvation by grace or death by the law, The Law requires a payment in blood, yours unless you are under grace in which case Christ has paid the price in full, but than there are many christians and denominations who seem to think they can do a better Job than He did.Good Luck yoru on your own.

In all His Love

 

[Trumpeter]

Friends, Sisters and Brothers in Christ, I am here to tell you Saturday is the Sabbath!... Not Sunday.
Now before you take offense, hear my words. They are not entirely my own... God’s Spirit fills me. Indeed, you are not wrong for worshiping on Sunday. No one can ever be wrong when worshiping The Lord and gathering together for fellowship in the name of Jesus. To worship The Lord any and all days is righteousness, but the seventh day is the day God has commanded us to remember and keep holy. So then on Saturday, do no work, but rest in The Lord, and pray and be merry. Then, when Sunday comes, worship and fellowship, if you so choose, for this is also pleasing to the Lord.
I hear some of you saying, ‘Yes, but we are no longer under the Law.’ You are partially right. We are under grace, freed from the Law’s punishment by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Has the Law also passed away? As the apostle, Paul, says, ‘God forbid.’Rather, only the laws found in ordinances were nailed to the cross of Christ, as Paul has taught us.
The Law of the Ten Commandments is now established in us and fulfilled by Jesus, who is the only One who has never transgressed, who also said, “It is easier for Heaven and earth to pass away than one letter of the Law to fail” (Matthew 5:18); and again, saying,“Whoever breaks one of these least commandments, and shall teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom; but whoever teaches others to keep them, shall be called great in the Kingdom” (Matthew 5:19)... He, also being the same One who taught us the Law anew, and how to obey it. Why teach us of that which has passed away? So then, if Jesus remembered the Sabbath and the apostles remembered the Sabbath, how is it then we have forgotten it?!
The church who changed the Sabbath was wrong, but the churches who worship on Sunday are not wrong. For even the apostles wrote that they did gather together on the first day of the week, which was the day after the day they rested and kept holy. (They were Jewish Christians. They honored and kept the Law and the Holy Days, but with a much greater understanding in the knowledge that Jesus is the fulfillment of all things and their one and only best example.) Rather, we, as individuals in Christ, should keep the Sabbath as it is written. In obedience to God, in Christ, is our love made perfect.
May God’s Spirit guide you and give you understanding as you read.
Yours in Christ, now and in the Kingdom,
Trumpeter

 

[HeRoseFromTheDead]

You are either justified by the law, or you are justified through faith. You either keep ALL of the law, or you abide in faith. You can't have it both ways because there is no middle ground. Can any of the 10 commandments make you righteous? Not one. Yet whatever is not of faith is sin.

The purpose of the sabbath was to be a sign to remind the children of Israel that it was the lord who sanctified them.

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. Exodus 31:13

Now we have the holy spirit as the sign that GOD is sanctifying us, and cleansing us from our own works of the flesh. As we are cleansed through faith we enter into the rest of being righteous and not having to justify ourselves through works of law.

Christ is our sabbath. Whoever rests in Christ's work through faith doesn't do the works of the flesh. This is the true meaning of the sabbath. The weekly sabbath was just a shadow of the reality who is Christ.

 

[KCKID]

Sabbath, is a day of rest from our works. Jesus has become our Sabbath Rest. if we abide in Him than we rest in Him, we rest from our works,He has accomplished it all, to keep the sabbath, you need to keep all the law, and thats where this will end up going. You cant pick and choose, and that means you are under the law, no matter how you look at it, And that means no salvation, it is by grace we are saved not by our works, The law does one thing, it shows us we are sinners, It is either Jesus or the Law, salvation by grace or death by the law, The Law requires a payment in blood, yours unless you are under grace in which case Christ has paid the price in full, but than there are many christians and denominations who seem to think they can do a better Job than He did.Good Luck yoru on your own.

In all His Love

I don't think that keeping the Sabbath would be seen as 'works' per se. In fact, according to Isaiah 58:13 the Sabbath is to be called 'a delight'.

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."

Indeed, my own Sabbath experience with the SDA Church was often - not always - a similar experience to that described above. Many people keep the Sabbath, not because it's being obedient to a command but because they love it and look forward to it every week. The Sabbath really IS a special day for many and they would honor it even if it were not a commandment . . .

 

[williemac]

You are either justified by the law, or you are justified through faith. You either keep ALL of the law, or you abide in faith. You can't have it both ways because there is no middle ground. Can any of the 10 commandments make you righteous? Not one. Yet whatever is not of faith is sin.

The purpose of the sabbath was to be a sign to remind the children of Israel that it was the lord who sanctified them.

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. Exodus 31:13

Now we have the holy spirit as the sign that GOD is sanctifying us, and cleansing us from our own works of the flesh. As we are cleansed through faith we enter into the rest of being righteous and not having to justify ourselves through works of law.

Christ is our sabbath. Whoever rests in Christ's work through faith doesn't do the works of the flesh. This is the true meaning of the sabbath. The weekly sabbath was just a shadow of the reality who is Christ.

Good reply.
I have little time this morning, and this subject has alrready been beaten around a ton, but want to add that those who promote the sabbath seem to forget that it is not a command to worship on a certain day, but to rest. Unfortuantely they criticize others for going to church on sunday even though the 4th command has nothing to do with which day one goes to church.

As well, some ignore the revelation given by the author of Hebrews (ch.3+4) that the sabbath rest is His rest that is entered into, a promise from God, and He can allow or deny one to enter it. According to that letter, one could conceivably be going to church on saturday without having entered God's rest. Therefore the command was a picture of a rest that was to come, based on a promise. God rested on the seventh day, but never returned to work ( creation). His work is now loving and ruling His creation. His work of creating it was finished. The real sabbath rest, the spiritual one, is a permanent rest from one's work. It is fulfilled spiritually by faith, by resting from old covenant works, entering into salvation by faith (new covenant) We are IN the seventh day...in Christ. Our new covnenant work reflects God's new work....LOVE...the fulfillment of the law.

Blessings , Howie

 

[Episkopos]

While I no longer attend the Church of my baptism (the Seventh-day Adventist Church) SDAs DO - I feel - have a lot going for them scripturally. For instance, as the name suggests, they believe in honoring the Seventh-day Sabbath as commanded in #4 of the Ten Commandments. And yet, Fundamentalist (and most mainstream) Christians who purport to rigid obedience to the scriptures totally ignore what is a very specific command. The command is also prefixed with a 'Remember' as if it was assumed in advance by God that people would forget.

Now, I've heard the typical argument time and time again that the Sabbath was abolished - though no good reason is ever given why it would have been abolished - and was replaced with Sunday, the 1st-day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead. So, we're led to believe that one day was apparently abolished only to be replaced with another exact same day which hardly makes sense. The resurrection of Jesus is, of course, already celebrated at Easter so commemorating this event on a weekly basis is hardly necessary anyway. Furthermore, the Ten Commandments were, so we are told in scripture, carved into stone by the finger of God. This implies 'permanency' so WHY is the 4th command of the Ten ignored by most Christians? Please don't say that it was God's will that the 7th-day Sabbath (Saturday) be abolished and replaced with the 1st-day (Sunday) when this would be a total fabrication. There is nowhere in scripture that says such a thing. Also, please don't say that PAUL over-rode the carvings by the finger of God on tablets of stone and changed the Sabbath from the 7th-day to the 1st-day because that would be tantamount to blasphemy. Even if Paul DID have the authority to tamper with the Ten Commandments he COULD NOT alter the sequence of the six days of Creation and the 7th-day on which God rested from His work. THAT is where our '7-day week' comes from. The Sabbath is a COMMEMORATION of that 7th-day on which God rested. Remember the "Remember" that prefixes the 4th-commandment?

Do I honor the Sabbath? Not consciously, I don't. Did I honor the Sabbath when I was a practicing SDA? Well, as with other SDAs, I 'acknowledged' the Sabbath and participated in Sabbath worship but this is a far cry from the way that the Jews were instructed to keep the Sabbath. Even the drive to church exceeded the limit that one was allowed to travel ...on foot anyway! Does ANYONE actually keep the Sabbath as instructed in the Bible? Well, I don't know about the Jews but the best that 7th-day Christians can do is to acknowledge the spirit of the Sabbath but, by nature of the times we live in, certainly not the letter of Sabbath-keeping. Do I believe that honoring the Sabbath is necessary for salvation? Logic tells me no, but another part of me is not so sure. SDA's believe that obedience and worship are SO important to God that such are of crucial importance to one's salvation. Their Bible-based doctrines explain the reasoning behind this belief.

The reason I bring up this topic at all is because many Christians - including a number of this forum - are sticklers for obedience to God's word. They will practically hit others over the head with scriptures of condemnation because 'God says we are to be obedient to His word' while they at the same time blatantly thumb their noses at the 4th-command of the Big Ten. The 7th-day Sabbath appears to have been very important for God and He instructed His people to honor that particular day to the exclusion of the others. He even blessed and sanctified the 7th-day but not the other six. NOWHERE did God bless the 1st-day that we call Sunday. I'm most curious as to why Christians choose not to honor the 7th-day Sabbath. My motives for asking might be questionable but the question itself IS legitimate. Why Do Christians Not Honor The Sabbath?

Why don't Christians do animal sacrifices either? Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. The true Sabbath is to stop (permanently) from dead works and the futility of the carnal mind. A true Christian walks as Jesus did while on earth...in the power of the Spirit. Sabbath means STOP. So since Christ is come and awaiting us in Zion...we enter the sabbath rest by abiding in Christ WHERE HE IS. We cannot walk as He walked unless we are seated with Him in Zion. So we are dead in Christ in order to live as Christ in this world doing the eternal works prepared in advance. THAT is what sabbath is all about.

 

[KCKID]

You are either justified by the law, or you are justified through faith. You either keep ALL of the law, or you abide in faith. You can't have it both ways because there is no middle ground. Can any of the 10 commandments make you righteous? Not one. Yet whatever is not of faith is sin.

The purpose of the sabbath was to be a sign to remind the children of Israel that it was the lord who sanctified them.

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. Exodus 31:13

Now we have the holy spirit as the sign that GOD is sanctifying us, and cleansing us from our own works of the flesh. As we are cleansed through faith we enter into the rest of being righteous and not having to justify ourselves through works of law.

Christ is our sabbath. Whoever rests in Christ's work through faith doesn't do the works of the flesh. This is the true meaning of the sabbath. The weekly sabbath was just a shadow of the reality who is Christ.

The above is rather typical and rather ambiguous mainstream stuff that is presented to justify Sunday as a substitute Sabbath. What does not make any sense to me is WHY the 7th-day Sabbath is seen to be a part of the Jewish law that was abolished at the cross and not for the Gentile but YET Christians STILL insist on keeping a day that they term 'the Sabbath' anyway! This is yet another of those mystifying idiosyncrasies of mainstream Christianity!

Good reply.
I have little time this morning, and this subject has alrready been beaten around a ton, but want to add that those who promote the sabbath seem to forget that it is not a command to worship on a certain day, but to rest. Unfortuantely they criticize others for going to church on sunday even though the 4th command has nothing to do with which day one goes to church.

Not true. Jesus preached in the synagogue on the Sabbath as did Paul.

As well, some ignore the revelation given by the author of Hebrews (ch.3+4) that the sabbath rest is His rest that is entered into, a promise from God, and He can allow or deny one to enter it. According to that letter, one could conceivably be going to church on saturday without having entered God's rest. Therefore the command was a picture of a rest that was to come, based on a promise. God rested on the seventh day, but never returned to work ( creation). His work is now loving and ruling His creation. His work of creating it was finished. The real sabbath rest, the spiritual one, is a permanent rest from one's work. It is fulfilled spiritually by faith, by resting from old covenant works, entering into salvation by faith (new covenant) We are IN the seventh day...in Christ. Our new covnenant work reflects God's new work....LOVE...the fulfillment of the law.

I doubt that the author of Hebrews - a seasoned Jew, no doubt, would think to tamper with such a valued religious custom that had been a way of life for ever. This just does not compute.

 

[HeRoseFromTheDead]

The above is rather typical and rather ambiguous mainstream stuff that is presented to justify Sunday as a substitute Sabbath. What does not make any sense to me is WHY the 7th-day Sabbath is seen to be a part of the Jewish law that was abolished at the cross and not for the Gentile but YET Christians STILL insist on keeping a day that they term 'the Sabbath' anyway! This is yet another of those mystifying idiosyncrasies of mainstream Christianity!

Your comment is self-contradictory. You called mainstream my explanation that the law of keeping a weekly sabbath has been superseded by a higher law (of faith), then turn around and say that mainstream Christianity insists on keeping a weekly sabbath.

 

[KCKID]

Why don't Christians do animal sacrifices either? Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. The true Sabbath is to stop (permanently) from dead works and the futility of the carnal mind. A true Christian walks as Jesus did while on earth...in the power of the Spirit. Sabbath means STOP. So since Christ is come and awaiting us in Zion...we enter the sabbath rest by abiding in Christ WHERE HE IS. We cannot walk as He walked unless we are seated with Him in Zion. So we are dead in Christ in order to live as Christ in this world doing the eternal works prepared in advance. THAT is what sabbath is all about.

Hmmm ...I don't think that that explanation fits the purpose at all as to why God initiated the Sabbath. I doubt that the average person would follow that line of reasoning at all. I'm no slouch but even I had to say ...huh? ...what?

Your comment is self-contradictory. You called mainstream my explanation that the law of keeping a weekly sabbath has been superseded by a higher law (of faith), then turn around and say that mainstream Christianity insists on keeping a weekly sabbath.

I said that, according to (many) mainstream Christians, the 7th-day Sabbath was done away with at the cross. "It was nailed to the cross," (many) mainstream Christians say. So, they say, Gentile Christians are no longer bound to honor the 7th-day Sabbath. Furthermore, those who DO continue to honor the 7th-day Sabbath are seen to be legalistic and burdened by the yoke of the OT law. So, what do mainstream Christians do? They come up with a substitute Sabbath instead! They replace one 24 hour day day - an OT burden - with another 24 hour day - apparently NOT a burden. So, go figure ...!

My question ...as long as Christians feel the need for a weekly Sabbath which they do .. .then why not keep the one that God asked them to keep!

 

[HeRoseFromTheDead]

Hmmm ...I don't think that that explanation fits the purpose at all as to why God initiated the Sabbath. I doubt that the average person would follow that line of reasoning at all. I'm no slouch but even I had to say ...huh? ...what?



I said that, according to (many) mainstream Christians, the 7th-day Sabbath was done away with at the cross. "It was nailed to the cross," (many) mainstream Christians say. So, they say, Gentile Christians are no longer bound to honor the 7th-day Sabbath. Furthermore, those who DO continue to honor the 7th-day Sabbath are seen to be legalistic and burdened by the yoke of the OT law. So, what do mainstream Christians do? They come up with a substitute Sabbath instead! They replace one 24 hour day day - an OT burden - with another 24 hour day - apparently NOT a burden. So, go figure ...!

My question ...as long as Christians feel the need for a weekly Sabbath which they do .. .then why not keep the one that God asked you to keep!

They are confused. They should either observe Saturday, and be justified by law, or be free in faith to congregate whatever day they like. Sunday is the traditional day for this, but has nothing to do with the sabbath, even though many erroneously do believe it does,

 

[Rex]

What I have been seeing lately in the threads I've been watching is a clear distinction between those with Spiritual eyes and those without.

 

[ericrun]

What you have to say above about Christians gathering on the first day of the week as though this somehow negates the 7th-day Sabbath and replaces it with Sunday is much more than a stretch. These folks were Jews - through and through - and the 7th-day Sabbath would have been ingrained into their very being. The very thought of shucking off that day - without any hint to do so from God - and replacing it with another would have blown their minds. Again, these early Christ-followers were JEWS - this includes Paul - who would have remained loyal to the Torah because there was no reason to do otherwise. Remember, the Torah is ALL that they had!

Yes, they were Jews, which meant they were also supposed to follow the circumcision and dietary laws of the Torah, and not interact with Gentiles. But, they rejected both because Peter said so. Why? Because Jesus gave Peter authority to bind and loose on Earth and on Heaven (Matthew 16:19) So when Peter makes a change in Christian practice from the Jewish laws to something else, it valid for Christians, even if it means abandoning the Sabbath.

This is Roman Catholicism! If Protestants want to kowtow to the RCC then all power to them. The above concerning abrogation of the Sabbath, however, is NOT scriptural!

The fact that this is the Catholic position does not make it not true. You haven't proven that the passages I've quoted are incorrectly applied to Christian practice.

The early Christians were the apostles who were - as said - JEWS. They would have had absolutely no cause NOR AUTHORITY to transfer the solemnity of the Creation Sabbath to any other day. They would NOT have done this! Again, this is RCC teaching!

When the church turned it's attention to attracting Gentiles, the Jewish leaders decided to abandon the Torah laws as applicable to Christian practice.

NOWHERE in scripture does it even hint that Jesus - who was not even crucified and resurrected on Sunday yet! - tossed up in the air dies with the numbers of the days of Creation on them and randomly selected one (Sunday) to be the NEW Creation day when they landed. I'm sorry, but this is all RCC hokum!

I didn't say Jesus randomly selected the day, did I? According to John, he appeared on Easter and the following Sunday. This wasn't based on something that happened before the crucifixion, its based upon his actual acts based on when he really rose from the dead.

 

[Episkopos]

Friends, Sisters and Brothers in Christ, I am here to tell you Saturday is the Sabbath!... Not Sunday.
Now before you take offense, hear my words. They are not entirely my own... God’s Spirit fills me. Indeed, you are not wrong for worshiping on Sunday. No one can ever be wrong when worshiping The Lord and gathering together for fellowship in the name of Jesus. To worship The Lord any and all days is righteousness, but the seventh day is the day God has commanded us to remember and keep holy. So then on Saturday, do no work, but rest in The Lord, and pray and be merry. Then, when Sunday comes, worship and fellowship, if you so choose, for this is also pleasing to the Lord.
I hear some of you saying, ‘Yes, but we are no longer under the Law.’ You are partially right. We are under grace, freed from the Law’s punishment by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Has the Law also passed away? As the apostle, Paul, says, ‘God forbid.’Rather, only the laws found in ordinances were nailed to the cross of Christ, as Paul has taught us.
The Law of the Ten Commandments is now established in us and fulfilled by Jesus, who is the only One who has never transgressed, who also said, “It is easier for Heaven and earth to pass away than one letter of the Law to fail” (Matthew 5:18); and again, saying,“Whoever breaks one of these least commandments, and shall teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom; but whoever teaches others to keep them, shall be called great in the Kingdom” (Matthew 5:19)... He, also being the same One who taught us the Law anew, and how to obey it. Why teach us of that which has passed away? So then, if Jesus remembered the Sabbath and the apostles remembered the Sabbath, how is it then we have forgotten it?!
The church who changed the Sabbath was wrong, but the churches who worship on Sunday are not wrong. For even the apostles wrote that they did gather together on the first day of the week, which was the day after the day they rested and kept holy. (They were Jewish Christians. They honored and kept the Law and the Holy Days, but with a much greater understanding in the knowledge that Jesus is the fulfillment of all things and their one and only best example.) Rather, we, as individuals in Christ, should keep the Sabbath as it is written. In obedience to God, in Christ, is our love made perfect.
May God’s Spirit guide you and give you understanding as you read.
Yours in Christ, now and in the Kingdom,
Trumpeter

Silly reasoning all along...Are we to become Jewish? Are we to be circumcised and eat kosher?

 

[Justin Mangonel]

Yup yup,

It is the whole types and shadows thingy. Once you fulfill them you don't keep them. Really, if circumcision is nothing...according to Paul...then neither is the Sabbath.

Blessings,

Justin

 

[mjrhealth]

See KCID, you have completely missed the point. The law was given to the Jews,it was never given to the gentiles. We came to Christ under Grace, not the law, But the devil loves chritians running back to something that was never ours in the first place. While the pharisees where running around wanting to stone everyone for breaking the sabbath Jesus was showing them the truth, but that they did not want as the law pleased the flesh.

Mat 12:1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
Mat 12:3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
Mat 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
Mat 12:5 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?
Mat 12:6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
Mat 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Mat 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Again it is your choice, the law or grace, death or life, which is it you want.??


In His Love

 

[Selene]

While I no longer attend the Church of my baptism (the Seventh-day Adventist Church) SDAs DO - I feel - have a lot going for them scripturally. For instance, as the name suggests, they believe in honoring the Seventh-day Sabbath as commanded in #4 of the Ten Commandments. And yet, Fundamentalist (and most mainstream) Christians who purport to rigid obedience to the scriptures totally ignore what is a very specific command. The command is also prefixed with a 'Remember' as if it was assumed in advance by God that people would forget.

Now, I've heard the typical argument time and time again that the Sabbath was abolished - though no good reason is ever given why it would have been abolished - and was replaced with Sunday, the 1st-day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead. So, we're led to believe that one day was apparently abolished only to be replaced with another exact same day which hardly makes sense. The resurrection of Jesus is, of course, already celebrated at Easter so commemorating this event on a weekly basis is hardly necessary anyway. Furthermore, the Ten Commandments were, so we are told in scripture, carved into stone by the finger of God. This implies 'permanency' so WHY is the 4th command of the Ten ignored by most Christians? Please don't say that it was God's will that the 7th-day Sabbath (Saturday) be abolished and replaced with the 1st-day (Sunday) when this would be a total fabrication. There is nowhere in scripture that says such a thing. Also, please don't say that PAUL over-rode the carvings by the finger of God on tablets of stone and changed the Sabbath from the 7th-day to the 1st-day because that would be tantamount to blasphemy. Even if Paul DID have the authority to tamper with the Ten Commandments he COULD NOT alter the sequence of the six days of Creation and the 7th-day on which God rested from His work. THAT is where our '7-day week' comes from. The Sabbath is a COMMEMORATION of that 7th-day on which God rested. Remember the "Remember" that prefixes the 4th-commandment?

Do I honor the Sabbath? Not consciously, I don't. Did I honor the Sabbath when I was a practicing SDA? Well, as with other SDAs, I 'acknowledged' the Sabbath and participated in Sabbath worship but this is a far cry from the way that the Jews were instructed to keep the Sabbath. Even the drive to church exceeded the limit that one was allowed to travel ...on foot anyway! Does ANYONE actually keep the Sabbath as instructed in the Bible? Well, I don't know about the Jews but the best that 7th-day Christians can do is to acknowledge the spirit of the Sabbath but, by nature of the times we live in, certainly not the letter of Sabbath-keeping. Do I believe that honoring the Sabbath is necessary for salvation? Logic tells me no, but another part of me is not so sure. SDA's believe that obedience and worship are SO important to God that such are of crucial importance to one's salvation. Their Bible-based doctrines explain the reasoning behind this belief.

The reason I bring up this topic at all is because many Christians - including a number of this forum - are sticklers for obedience to God's word. They will practically hit others over the head with scriptures of condemnation because 'God says we are to be obedient to His word' while they at the same time blatantly thumb their noses at the 4th-command of the Big Ten. The 7th-day Sabbath appears to have been very important for God and He instructed His people to honor that particular day to the exclusion of the others. He even blessed and sanctified the 7th-day but not the other six. NOWHERE did God bless the 1st-day that we call Sunday. I'm most curious as to why Christians choose not to honor the 7th-day Sabbath. My motives for asking might be questionable but the question itself IS legitimate. Why Do Christians Not Honor The Sabbath?

God linked the Jewish Sabbath to the Old Creation where God created everything for 6 days and rested on the 7th day. While it is true that observing the Sabbath is in the Ten Commandments, it is also a covenant between the Jewish people and God.

Exodus 31:16-17 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, [for] a perpetual covenant. 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.

Because the Sabbath became a covenant, it is the only one of the Ten Commandments that can be changed. The other commandments cannot be changed. For Christians, Christ is the New Covenant.

Luke 22:20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

As Christians, we are no longer part of the Old Covenant and the Old Creation which was linked with the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday). We are now part of the New Covenant and part of the New Creation, which is linked with the Lord's Day (Sunday - the day of Christ's resurrection).

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: [fn] The old has gone, the new is here!

Christ rose from the dead on the "first day of the week." Because it is the "first day" of Christ's resurrection, it recalls the first Creation. Sunday is also the "eighth day" following the Sabbath; therefore, it symbolized the New Creation ushered in by Christ's resurrection. In the Old Testament, God also blessed the eighth day......a foreshadow of the New Creation that will come from Christ's resurrection. According to the Old Testament, the eighth day was also a Sabbath.

Leviticus 23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day [shall be] a sabbath, and on the eighth day [shall be] a sabbath.

 

[bling]

While I no longer attend the Church of my baptism (the Seventh-day Adventist Church) SDAs DO - I feel - have a lot going for them scripturally. For instance, as the name suggests, they believe in honoring the Seventh-day Sabbath as commanded in #4 of the Ten Commandments. And yet, Fundamentalist (and most mainstream) Christians who purport to rigid obedience to the scriptures totally ignore what is a very specific command. The command is also prefixed with a 'Remember' as if it was assumed in advance by God that people would forget.

Now, I've heard the typical argument time and time again that the Sabbath was abolished - though no good reason is ever given why it would have been abolished - and was replaced with Sunday, the 1st-day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead. So, we're led to believe that one day was apparently abolished only to be replaced with another exact same day which hardly makes sense. The resurrection of Jesus is, of course, already celebrated at Easter so commemorating this event on a weekly basis is hardly necessary anyway. Furthermore, the Ten Commandments were, so we are told in scripture, carved into stone by the finger of God. This implies 'permanency' so WHY is the 4th command of the Ten ignored by most Christians? Please don't say that it was God's will that the 7th-day Sabbath (Saturday) be abolished and replaced with the 1st-day (Sunday) when this would be a total fabrication. There is nowhere in scripture that says such a thing. Also, please don't say that PAUL over-rode the carvings by the finger of God on tablets of stone and changed the Sabbath from the 7th-day to the 1st-day because that would be tantamount to blasphemy. Even if Paul DID have the authority to tamper with the Ten Commandments he COULD NOT alter the sequence of the six days of Creation and the 7th-day on which God rested from His work. THAT is where our '7-day week' comes from. The Sabbath is a COMMEMORATION of that 7th-day on which God rested. Remember the "Remember" that prefixes the 4th-commandment?

Do I honor the Sabbath? Not consciously, I don't. Did I honor the Sabbath when I was a practicing SDA? Well, as with other SDAs, I 'acknowledged' the Sabbath and participated in Sabbath worship but this is a far cry from the way that the Jews were instructed to keep the Sabbath. Even the drive to church exceeded the limit that one was allowed to travel ...on foot anyway! Does ANYONE actually keep the Sabbath as instructed in the Bible? Well, I don't know about the Jews but the best that 7th-day Christians can do is to acknowledge the spirit of the Sabbath but, by nature of the times we live in, certainly not the letter of Sabbath-keeping. Do I believe that honoring the Sabbath is necessary for salvation? Logic tells me no, but another part of me is not so sure. SDA's believe that obedience and worship are SO important to God that such are of crucial importance to one's salvation. Their Bible-based doctrines explain the reasoning behind this belief.

The reason I bring up this topic at all is because many Christians - including a number of this forum - are sticklers for obedience to God's word. They will practically hit others over the head with scriptures of condemnation because 'God says we are to be obedient to His word' while they at the same time blatantly thumb their noses at the 4th-command of the Big Ten. The 7th-day Sabbath appears to have been very important for God and He instructed His people to honor that particular day to the exclusion of the others. He even blessed and sanctified the 7th-day but not the other six. NOWHERE did God bless the 1st-day that we call Sunday. I'm most curious as to why Christians choose not to honor the 7th-day Sabbath. My motives for asking might be questionable but the question itself IS legitimate. Why Do Christians Not Honor The Sabbath?

Help me understand a few things:

1. 
   Is a Sabbath a Saturday or is Saturday a Sabbath
   with other days also Sabbaths like Passover and the day of Atonement and every
   day in the year of Jubilee?

1. 
   Are Christians today to be like the regular Jews
   of the Old Testament or are we to be like the priests of the Old Testament?

1. 
   Are Christians today to be that nation of
   priests (Ex. 19:6, 1 Peter 2:9) and not just a Jewish like nation?

1. 
   Did the Priests offer up sacrifices on the
   Sabbaths and if so were the Priests keeping the Sabbath Rest?

1. 
   For the Priests what is the Sabbath Rest and so
   what is the Sabbath Rest to be for Christians?

1. 
   Is worship to God “work” by God’s definition?

1. 
   We know van worship is offering up to God obedience
   to man’s commands, so could righteous worship be offering up to God obedience
   to God’s commands?

1. 
   If Christians are Priests, the temple of God,
   carrying the alter with them (cross), and constantly offering up themselves as
   a living sacrifice: When are Christian’s not worshipping and should they ever
   stop???

1. 
   Did Christ expand the Old Testament commands to
   include our thoughts and lots more actions?

1. 
   Some of the Jewish scholars prior to Christ
   seemed to have discussed (records are not perfect on this) that there was a
   coming “Age of Jubilee”, do you see that description fitting the Christian
   Dispensation we are part of?

I think the priests did follow the Sabbath Rest since
“worship” is not work and the priests were to worship and not work all the time
(the other Jews were to support them). By increasing the commands on Christians
and providing a constant partner (the Spirit), Christian’s today can be in
constant worship as long as what you are doing is in obedience to God’s
commands, so we are in the Sabbath Rest.
To suggest today we just “Sabbath Rest” one day a week is to suggest the
other 6 days are ours?

 

[williemac]

I doubt that the author of Hebrews - a seasoned Jew, no doubt, would think to tamper with such a valued religious custom that had been a way of life for ever. This just does not compute.

The author of Hebrews tampered with nothing. He wrote as he was inspired of God. But I gues you never bothered to read the 3rd and 4th chapters, huh? All I did was to repeat what it said. The sabbath rest is something that is entered into by faith. It is something that is called God's rest. And He can deny one's entrance into it for thier unbelief. This is all explained by the author. So you can doubt all you want. However why don't you rather go to the letter and take some of these points and show how they mean something other than what they say? This would be more credible than to just say you doubt something.

But as well, the valued religious system that you refer to was shaken from its very foundation by the death and resurrection of Jesus. The veil was torn in two from top to bottom. The animal sacrifices were replaced, done away with...another valued religious custom. The temple was destroyed. There became a great division between those who accepted Jesus as Messiah and those who did not.

As well, one their top Pharisees of the day (Saul) was converted and went into the wilderness for 14 years to be taught by the Holy Spirit. When he returned, he certainly went into the synagogues to teach. But where else was he going to be able to witness to his countrymen? He went where they were, met where they met, and preached the gospel...which landed him in great turmoil and resistance from those who were offended. Do you think Paul was merely going to the synagogues to join with them in their old covenant of law? Really? He went into a volatile mission field, risked his life time and again, to plead with his fellow Jews to convert. Let's put this in proper perspective rather than trying to make like Paul was simply joining them in worship on the sabbath, and to fellowship with their customs.

As for Jesus teaching on the sabbath, let's not forget that He came to them while they were under the law. His teachings were under the confines of the old covenant. Paul explained to the Galatians that faith was not yet revealed until after the death of Jesus. Therefore there was only so much that Jesus could say about what was really going to happen. For if they had known and understood His mission and identity, they would not have cruicified Him. We would still be in our sin. In the meantime, He used the law to its purpose: to convict them of their sin. This was always its purpose. Jesus would have known that. Of course they were observing the sabbath! That goes without saying.

 

[Axehead]

The Sabbath was not abolished. It was fulfilled in Christ and by Christ. The Sabbath (a day of the week) can never give you the REST that you need 7 days a week. He is our REST and it is a deep spiritual rest by which you are trusting in the Lord (ceasing from your own works of righteousness) and resting in Him everyday.

There are some really good threads on this subject.

We need His rest 365 days of the year, not 52 days.

"Come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest".

 

[KCKID]

The Sabbath was not abolished. It was fulfilled in Christ and by Christ. The Sabbath (a day of the week) can never give you the REST that you need 7 days a week. He is our REST and it is a deep spiritual rest by which you are trusting in the Lord (ceasing from your own works of righteousness) and resting in Him everyday.

There are some really good threads on this subject.

We need His rest 365 days of the year, not 52 days.

"Come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest".

The 4th-command of the Ten Commandments refers to, 1. PHYSICAL rest from one's labors, i.e. six days shalt thou labor, and 2. an ACTUAL day, i.e. a 24-hour period, that was blessed and sanctified at Creation BY God to commemorate that Creation.

It's my opinion that what we see today from mainstream Christianity is a mish-mash of excuses (in extremely ambiguous scripture form) to attempt to make legit a 'holy' day (Sunday) that came to be without any authority from God. Most lay Christians read such as the above - haven't got a clue what it means - and then they say, "Um, ah, oh yeah, that's right." James 2:8 refers to the Ten Commandments as 'the royal law' and somehow does not dismiss them as having been abolished. As I said in my initial post, I don't consciously keep the Sabbath so I don't expect others to. I also don't, however, miltantly and incessantly insist that others be 'obedient to God' as some do on this forum. Clearly, in my mind anyway, such Christians are NOT obedient to God as long as they support a counterfeit 'holy day'.

What I have been seeing lately in the threads I've been watching is a clear distinction between those with Spiritual eyes and those without.

Um, let me guess ...YOU have Spiritual eyes ...right?