Featured Two Baptist Views Combined - my view

No one disputes that we are still to obey the Moral aspect of the Law, but keeping the Sabbath was NOT given to us under the new Covenant!

 

The Sabbath, or as it is referred to under the New Covenant as the Lord's Day, is a creation ordinance. It pre-dated the Mosaic Law (c.f. Genesis 2:3; Exodus 16:23). The Reformers used to call the Lord's Day the Christian sabbath. Their idea of the Christian sabbath was radically different than the Jewish Sabbath. Their idea of the Christian sabbath, or Lord's Day, was:

However one decides to observe the Lord's Day, it is not an optional command.

 

Where in Genesis 2:3 is there a command to keep the sabbath?
Where in Genesis 2:3 is the word "sabbath" mentioned?
Where in Genesis 2:3 is there any form of any command at all?

Exodus 16:23 is a command given to the nation of Israel. Why would you think that is applicable to Gentile Christians?
Exodus 31 makes it clear that the Sabbath is a day given as a sign between Jehovah and Israel and their generations forever.

First, that is simply redefining the word "sabbath."
Second, that is not a command of Scripture.
Third, the early church did not meet on a specific day, but every day of the week (Acts 2:41ff).
Fourth we are not commanded to meet on any special day but every day is just as holy as every other day. Our mid-week service is just as important as our Sunday service. When we have evangelistic services or special meetings that last a week, then every service is important not just one.
Fifth, the command (fourth command) is not moral or immoral, as regards to God's moral law. Contrary to the nature of "Thou shalt not commit adultery," there is nothing moral or immoral about keeping one day holy unto the Lord. It is not part of God's moral law.

 

I agree with everything you said in this post.

 

DHK,

First, the word "Sabbath" is Greek. It means "a ceasing".

In Genesis 2:3 we read, "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

The principle of ceasing is seen in God resting from His creative work. God could not actually cease from His sustaining work or else the universe would dissolve into destruction.

God sanctified the seventh day. Literally He set it apart.

The above was done before any Law of God was codified. The nation of Israel did not yet exist. There was no Mosaic Law. There was no formal Jewish Sabbath. Yet the precedent had been set, by God, for a set apart day.

The first forms of the formal Mosaic Sabbath are not seen until Exodus 16:22-36. The Law of Moses was not given until Exodus 20. In Exodus 16 God instructed Israel that the seventh day was to be a "a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the Lord". Literally it meant that the seventh day was to be a day of ceasing from all labor, a set apart day to the Lord.

This day of ceasing is very much a moral command in that it proceeded from the mouth of God. It is moral in that it is right for mankind to worship Him. It is immoral for mankind not to worship Him.

Sam Waldron writes,

In Exodus 20:9-11 the day of ceasing, the sabbath, is codified. In verse 11 God explains that the day of ceasing is, indeed, a creation ordinance. "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy."

The principle of a day of ceasing has never been abrogated in scripture.

Since you do not place any special significance on a day of worship ("we are not commanded to meet on any special day but every day is just as holy as every other day") you have turned worship into man-centered, optional activity. If there is no specific day to worship it follows that there is no specific place to worship. For that matter the content of worship is probably left up to the worshiper. You are advocating, wittingly or not, a post-modern view of worship; a "where anything goes" approach.

 

NO. The word "sabbath" is from the Hebrew. The OT was written in Hebrew not in Greek. We first find the word Sabbath in Exodus 20. The word sabaoth means "intermission." It was an intermission between two weeks.

Right. No command.

Obviously; God himself did not need rest. He ceased from his act of creation. There were no given names of days. The seventh day could have been Wednesday, for example. It was a week of days. The sabbath is not mentioned. The principle being taught is that one in seven days a man should rest from his work. That is the only principle that can be taken from here.
There is nothing about the Ten Commandments.
There is nothing about the Sabbath Day.

For what purpose? For the purpose of rest. One day in seven man shall rest.

Set apart a day, one day in seven for rest.

And this command was given to the Jews.

There is no command given in Genesis 2:3; only a principle of one day in seven to be set apart for rest.

And this command is given to Israel. In Exodus 31 it is made very specific:
Exodus 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.
It was a sign between Jehovah and Israel and her generations forever. That was a stiff penalty for THEM not to keep it. It was never given to the Gentiles.

--As a day of rest, no. Man should not work every day of the week. That is a Biblical principle.

That is not true. In fact you have just done what the Bible commands you not to do:

Romans 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? ...
5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it...

As you probably know, I am a missionary.
I have been in Islamic nations. The most popular day for Christians to meet in some of these nations is Friday. The reason? It is the only day that the Muslims will allow them time off work. It is a day where they also will be able to congregate together and worship together. This is no sin. One day is just like another in God's mind. There is no command in Scripture to worship on Sunday. It is pure tradition. The early church worshiped every day of the week. Would you condemn these people because that is the only day they are able to have corporate worship? Many of them are persecuted (even unto death) as it is.

 

DHK,

I should have been a bit more inclusive of the origins of the word sabbath. My intentions were to render the New Testament usage. The word we know as sabbath today was a Greek transliteration of a Hebrew word.

I am not going to get into an ad infinitum, ad nauseaum debate on whether the sabbath is a creation ordinance that is to be observed today. I come from a camp that believes it is. I have presented the case the Bible makes for it and will leave it up to others to accept or reject it.

I have not violated Romans 14. It was you who said, "we are not commanded to meet on any special day but every day is just as holy as every other day". If that is how you feel about specific days of worship then you are leaving worship up to the individual. Under your schema what church/pastor would have biblical warrant to compel someone to attend worship on a specific date? Your view removes any ecclesiastical authority in worship and makes the individual the sole interpreter.

The fact that you are a missionary is irrelevant and anecdotal. There are times when churches and individuals are providentially hindered from carrying out their Christian duties. That does not nullify God's commands, it just makes the situation irregular. As always grace rules.

Once again, understand that I am not trying to change your mind. I started by stating what I believe and that belief has not changed.

 

Once again, I agree with everything you have said, and that in itself is quite remarkable.

 

What foolishness! I suppose you can see the Great Commission--"to go into all the world and preach the gospel," in Genesis 1 and 2 as well.
There is such a thing as progressive revelation. We learn as we progress through the Bible. There is no sabbath in first two chapters of Genesis. The word is not even found there. There are no Ten Commandments, and there is likewise no Great Commission. We learn about all those things much later.
According to your logic every command in the Bible is summed up somehow in Genesis 1 and 2. Where does this eisegesis come from?

This command is given to Israel. The sabbath was a command given to the nation of Israel, and only Israel. If the nation of Israel did not keep they were to be stoned. Do you agree with this punishment for today?

There is no sabbath in Genesis. The word doesn't even appear, much less a command.
But the command to keep the Sabbath is given to Israel. The consequence of not keeping it was death.
The Sabbath was made for mankind.
So was creation made for mankind.
So were the stars and the heavens (Psalm 19:1-3)
So were the angels made for the believers (Heb.1:14).
--Do you worship angels?

All of us agree that the sabbath was Saturday. Moody probably knew that as well. Too bad you can't figure out his vocabulary.
But it does prove to you that they are all "sabbath-breakers" according to SDA standards. You can't have your cake and eat it to. There is only one standard. If Saturday is the Sabbath they were all Sabbath breakers.

They deliberately changed it in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
They knew that the Jews worshiped on Saturday, and the true Sabbath was on Saturday. Sunday is "resurrection day," and because of that it became a day of worship. It was then called "the Christian sabbath."

First day: God created.
Second day: God created.
Third day: God created.
...Sixth day: God created.
Seventh day: God rested from his creation.
Conclusion: Set apart one day in seven for rest. That is the only conclusion one can make from that passage. There is no mention of the word "sabbath." There is no command in Gen.2:3 to keep any day; to remember any day for any reason whatsoever. There is a principle taught and that is all.

He has never said that to the Gentiles. He didn't say that in Genesis.

No they are not. You deceive yourself. Keeping the Sabbath is not recognized by any Baptist. Keeping the Lord's Day is. Why do you misrepresent Baptists. You are simply lying.

Paul taught principles. There is one interpretation but several applications. The applications. The application is still there. It hurts your theology, but it is still there.

There is no where in the Bible where keeping the sabbath holy is a command given to anyone else but the Jews. It is a Jewish command. And the penalty for not keeping it is death. Have you agreed to that?