My conviction is that the Sabbath is not applicable per Colossians 2:16-17. In addition, Sabbath-breaking was not mentioned on any of the sin lists of the Gentiles.
Amen! I have the same conviction. Sabbath-keeping with all it's rules and regulations, was part of a covenant with Israel that is not applicable to Christians under the New Covenant. Even when Christians set out to worship on the Sabbath, they aren’t truly "keeping the Sabbath." To "keep the Sabbath" as it was required in the Old Testament would involve compliance with stringent regulations (Exodus 16:23; 35:3; Leviticus 23:32; Jeremiah 17:21) that were strictly enforced. If Sabbath-day observances are still required, so would the burnt offerings which went along with them (Leviticus 19:30; 23:2-3; Numbers 28:1-10; 29:39-40; I Chronicles. 23:30-31; II Chronicles 31:2-4; Isaiah 1:13). These were commanded by God to the sons of Israel. If the seventh-day Sabbath is still in affect, then why do not the Sabbatarians seek to obey ALL that the LORD commanded? How can a person say he keeps a certain law when he keeps only part of it?
If the Sabbath-day laws were still in effect today, then according to Exodus 31:12-18; 35:1-3; and Numbers 15:32-36, anyone who profaned the Sabbath was
put to death and any person who does any work on it, that person shall be
cut off from his people. Who is going to enforce that? The Jewish synagogue? The Christian Church? The Seventh-day Adventist church? Or the State? Since we do not live under a theocratic state as ancient Israel did, no Sabbatarian can live consistently under the Mosaic regulations.
SDAs spend a lot of effort claiming that the weekly Sabbath isn't mentioned in Colossians 2:16-17 but they cannot prove it. The word Sabbath is sabbaton, which has a weekly context. Indeed, it is translated "week" eight times in the NT. For example, mia ton sabbaton means "first day of the week" where mia means one and sabbaton means week.
SDA's turn keeping the weekly Sabbath into a legalistic prescription. There is an elderly man on my mail route who is always trying to convince me that I need to keep the weekly Sabbath on Saturday and often brags that he does. He even brags about not eating pork and implies that he will be saved because of that. He once encouraged me to tell my employer that I cannot work on Saturday in order to keep the Sabbath day holy and even implied that those who don't will not make it to heaven. I have never once heard this man share the gospel, but he sure loves to talk about complying with ALL of the requirements of the SDA church in order to be saved. He clearly teaches salvation by works.
One basic question that should be asked is whether the Old Covenant is in effect, and whether the Sabbath, festivals, and clean/unclean meat laws are moral in nature, or were part of the "boundary markers" which separated ancient Israel from the Gentile nations around it.
St. Paul said in Galatians 4:9-11: "...You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain."
In Romans 14:1-23, the Apostle Paul says: "... One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind...(NASB)." In other words, for the Christian, the Apostle is saying that no day is to be regarded holier than another. Although the Torah was read every Saturday in the synagogues, the early Gentile Christians were never commanded to be circumcised, or to rest on Saturday as the Jews were (Acts 15:1-21).
The early Christians began to worship God on Sunday (the Lord's Day), because the first day of the week became associated with Christ's resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10; Luke 24:1; John 20:1; Revelation 1:10). We see from Acts 20:7 and I Corinthians 16:1-3 that the early Church gathered together on the first day of every week in order to "break bread," and also to take up a "collection for the saints." Nowhere in the New Testament is the Church commanded to gather together to worship on the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath. The Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches that the Roman Catholic Church originated Christian worship on Sunday.
History records that the early Christians were worshipping on Sunday as far back as the first and second centuries A.D. For example:
"But every Lord's Day, gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, so that your sacrifice may be pure." (Didache c. 80-140)
"No longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day." (Ignatius, c. 105) Ignatius here reveals that the “Lord’s Day” is separate from the Jewish Sabbath.
"I will make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. For that reason, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead." (Barnabas c. 70-130)
"And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read... But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God... made the world. And Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead on that same day." (Justin Martyr c. 160)
"There was no need of circumcision before Abraham. Nor was there need of the observance of Sabbaths, or of feasts and sacrifices, before Moses. Accordingly, there is no more need of them now." (Justin Martyr c. 160)
"We do not follow the Jews in their peculiarities in regard to food nor in their sacred days." (Tertullian c. 197)
"Just as the abolition of fleshly circumcision and of the old Law is demonstrated as having been consummated at its specific times, so also the observance of the Sabbath is demonstrated to have been temporary." (Tertullian c. 197)
"On the day of our Lord's resurrection, which is the Lord's Day, you should meet more diligently, sending praise to God who made the universe by Jesus... On this day, there is the reading of the Prophets, the preaching of the Gospel, the oblation of the sacrifice, and the gift of the holy food." (Apostolic Constitutions, compiled c.390)
Unless they are claiming that the Sabbath is a requirement for salvation, and everyone else is unsaved
Like the SDA on my mail route who acts very self righteous. I have a very low tolerance for self righteous people!
For every point the Sabbathkeepers make, a counter-point can be made.
Amen!
I would recommend this video to understand the Abrahamic, Old, and New Covenant, and why the Sabbath is included in Colossians 2:16-17. Also, is the Ten Commandments a separate group of laws which are still applicable, while the Book of the Covenant is not applicable?
It is based somewhat on the Sabbath in Christ book by Dale Ratzlaff.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKnzCuBYVJm5aePMh-rTUtoi2-QNiKDs2
Thank you for the video! I'm starting to watch it right now.