Christian Sabbath

ReformedBaptist · Dec 14, 2009

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Heb 4:9

The word here translated "rest" is Sabbateros, or Sabbath. There remains a Sabbath to the people God.

Some argue that this is Sunday, that the Law commanding a Sabbath Day was changed by Jesus from Saturday to Sunday, and now Christians are morally bound to keep the Sabbath Day on Sunday.

Others reject this. I am one who rejects this teaching. I am not a Sabbatarian.

What do you believe the Scripture teaches?

webdog · Dec 14, 2009

ReformedBaptist said: ↑

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Heb 4:9

The word here translated "rest" is Sabbateros, or Sabbath. There remains a Sabbath to the people God.

Some argue that this is Sunday, that the Law commanding a Sabbath Day was changed by Jesus from Saturday to Sunday, and now Christians are morally bound to keep the Sabbath Day on Sunday.

Others reject this. I am one who rejects this teaching. I am not a Sabbatarian.

What do you believe the Scripture teaches?
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I don't believe it was changed from Saturday to Sunday, and I also believe it was for the Jews under the Law.

Johnv · Dec 14, 2009

ReformedBaptist said: ↑

Some argue that this is Sunday, that the Law commanding a Sabbath Day was changed by Jesus from Saturday to Sunday, and now Christians are morally bound to keep the Sabbath Day on Sunday.

Others reject this. I am one who rejects this teaching. I am not a Sabbatarian.
Click to expand...

I likewise reject it. Indeed, there is a Sabbath which we are required to observe. But since Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, it's a personal, not necessarily a corporate, observance. As individuals, we should indeed set aside at least one day in seven to rest, and to glorify God (hopefully, though, we are glorifying God every day).

No where in scripture does it say that the sabbath day is the day for formal corporate worship. This is our custom, and practicing that custom certainly does not violate scripture. This is customarily Sunday, but is not scripturally required to be Sunday.

Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Further, Paul says to not allow anyoen to judge you on your keeping of sabbath days.

So, yes, you should keep the Sabbath. But when you keep, it, and how you keep it, is entirely upon the individual.

webdog · Dec 14, 2009

The Sabbath was part of the OT Law, which we are no longer required to keep as it was a shadow of things to come (Col. 2:16-17). We are in Christ, the fulfillment of the Law.

In addition...

Romans 14:5 One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind.

Colossians 2:16 Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.

Scarlett O. · Dec 14, 2009

ReformedBaptist said: ↑

What do you believe the Scripture teaches?
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I put the following together for another forum. It's not my original work.

I could give you my opinion, but I'd rather tell you what the Bible says and let you clarify it in your own mind.

I’ve pulled these thoughts from gotquestions.org and the site’s commentaries and scripture analysis of the Sabbath.

I. What is the Sabbath Day?

It’s a day in which we stop our labors and rest. (Exodus 20:8-11) It is always defined as ceasing from work and never as a day of worship.

Exodus 16:23-29

Exodus 31:14-16

Exodus 35:2-3

Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Nehemiah 13:15-22

Jeremiah 17:21-27

In the Old Testament, there was not “one day” set aside for worship. The tabernacle and Temple were open everyday and sacrifices/worship were being made continually. This man-made traditional thought that the Sabbath is the God-ordained, “one day” of corporate worship is not biblical. New Testament Jews met in synagogues on the Sabbath, but that was not a biblical command. It was just a natural time to meet because there was no work. The Bible also refers to the early church as meeting “every day”.

II. Does God require Sabbath-keeping of Christians?

In Colossians 2:16-17, the Apostle Paul declared......

Quote:
“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”
Similarly, Romans 14:5 says....

Quote:
“One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”

What does that mean?

Should a Christian practice Sabbath-keeping, that is, not working on Saturdays? If a Christian feels led to do so, absolutely, yes (Romans 14:5).

However, those who choose to practice Sabbath-keeping should not judge those who do not keep the Sabbath (Colossians 2:16).

Further, those who do not keep the Sabbath should avoid being a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 8:9) to those who do keep the Sabbath.

III. How is Jesus our Sabbath Rest?

Jesus can be our Sabbath rest in part because He is “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). As God incarnate, He decides the true meaning of the Sabbath because He created it, and He is our Sabbath rest in the flesh.

When the Pharisees criticized Him for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus reminded them that even they, sinful as they were, would not hesitate to pull a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath. Because He came to seek and save His sheep who would hear His voice (John 10:3 and John 10:27) and enter into the Sabbath rest He provided by paying for their sins, He could break the Sabbath rules.

He told the Pharisees that people are more important than sheep and the salvation He provided was more important than rules. By saying, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), Jesus was restating the principle that the Sabbath rest was instituted to relieve man of his labors, just as He came to relieve us of our attempting to achieve salvation by our works. We no longer rest for only one day, but forever cease our laboring to attain God’s favor. Jesus is our rest from works now, just as He is the door to heaven, where we will rest in Him forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hebrews 4 is the definitive passage regarding Jesus as our Sabbath rest. The writer to the Hebrews exhorts his readers to “enter in” to the Sabbath rest provided by Christ.

After three chapters of telling them that Jesus is superior to the angels and that He is our Apostle and High Priest, he pleads with them to not harden their hearts against Him, as their fathers hardened their hearts against Jehovah in the wilderness. Because of their unbelief, God denied that generation access to the holy land, saying, “They shall not enter into My rest” (Hebrews 3:11).

In the same way, the writer to the Hebrews begs them—and us—not to make the same mistake by rejecting God’s Sabbath rest in Jesus Christ.

Quote:
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:9-11).

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FR7 Baptist · Dec 15, 2009

While I do believe that we should meet on Sunday to worship God, and it may be possible to use the term "Sabbath" in that sense, I think the Sabbath was only for Jews who were under the law.

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