Bible Facts For Saturday Sabbatarians To Ponder or Squander
1. The Ten Commandments were reinstated in the
New Testament EXCEPT the Sabbath Command
The 1st commandment was reinstated in Matt. 22:37; 1 Cor. 8:5,6.
The 2nd commandment was reinstated in 1 Jn. 5:21. (Col. 3:5 and Eph. 5:5 broadens idolatry to include covetousness.)
The 3rd commandment was reinstated in Col. 3:8.
The 5th commandment was reinstated in Eph. 6:1-3.
The 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th commandments were reinstated in Rom. 13:8-10; Matt. 19:18; Gal. 5:14; 1 Cor. 6:9,10; and Gal. 5:19-21.
Sometimes Heb. 4:4 and 4:9,10 are thought to show the sabbath command was reinstated in the NT merely because the word "sabbath" is found. Let's look at this passage:
For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 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 (Heb. 4:4-10).
Please note: That passage mentions only a "Sabbath rest," but not the keeping of the Sabbath, as Israel was commanded in the Old Testament! Furthermore, this "Sabbath rest" can not be equated with the keeping of the Saturday Sabbath, for even the Israelites who did keep it did not enter this "rest." A Christian finds his spiritual rest in Christ (Mt. 11:28). Only the 4th commandment, which is ceremonial rather than moral, was not reinstated in the New Testament, the covenant we are under today.
2. The Saturday Sabbath Command was a Memorial
The Saturday Sabbath command was given soon after the Israelites were delivered by Moses. Read of the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus 14. The point of Exodus 19:1 was just three months after they left Egypt, with Exodus 20 (when the Ten Commandments were given) coming soon thereafter.
Exodus 20:1-17 is repeated in Deut. 5:6-21, where Moses expounds upon WHY it came and to WHOM the Sabbath command was given.
"Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day" (Deut. 5:15).
As Passover was an annual memorial festival for the Jews to celebrate in memory of God, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt while the firstborn of the Egyptians were struck dead (Ex. 12:14-30), the Saturday Sabbath was also for the Jews to remember weekly their historical deliverance from bitter slavery in Egypt, Deut. 5:15. The Saturday Sabbath command, therefore, was not a "creation ordinance" as some say, according to Deut. 5:15. Also consider the following:
"The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested" (Exo 31:16,17).
3. Christians are permitted to make up their own minds about a Special Day
"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. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord ...." (Rom. 14:5,6).
If the Saturday Sabbath command was still enforced today, as in the Old Testament, such "liberty" would NEVER be allowed! Can you imagine such Christian "liberty" in setting up idols, committing adultery or stealing? Since the latter are clear commands (no idolatry, no adultery, no stealing), there is no such "liberty" regarding these matters, in contrast to a special weekly day to the Lord. Also remember, when Paul gave us Romans 14, he knew about Gen. 2:3 and the rest of the Old Testament. Among Saturday sabbatarians there does NOT exist this Christian liberty!
Col. 2:16,17 adds to all this by saying:
"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."
If it is true, as some say, that the pope changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, then why did first-century Christians sometimes meet on Sunday?
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight (Acts 20:7).
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made (1 Cor. 16:2).
4. The Gentile Christians were NOT commanded to keep the Saturday Sabbath
In Acts 15, the first church council convened over a false teaching of that day:
"Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved," verse 1.
When the Lord's apostles wrote their decision about circumcision for the Gentile Christians to read (Acts 15:23-29), their silence about the observance of the Jewish Sabbath is significant, especially when we consider that breaking the Saturday Sabbath command in the Old Testament carried with it very serious consequences, including the death sentence for offenders (Exo. 31:14-17 cf. Num. 15:32-36):
5. The Real Purpose of the entire Ten Commandments
"So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith." (Gal. 3:24)
"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." (Rom. 3:20)
6. Did the Lord Jesus Command a Person to Sin on the Sabbath
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk' " (John 5:7-11).
The Lord Jesus commanded that invalid, on a Sabbath, to pick up his mat and walk with it to be healed. Hence, this would constitute "work," according to the Old Testament Sabbath command. Since the Lord of the Sabbath could NEVER command a person to sin, we, thereby know that Christians today are NOT under this same Sabbath command as given to Israel in Ex. 20:8-11, which reads:
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (Ex. 20:8-11).
1. The Ten Commandments were reinstated in the
New Testament EXCEPT the Sabbath Command
The 1st commandment was reinstated in Matt. 22:37; 1 Cor. 8:5,6.
The 2nd commandment was reinstated in 1 Jn. 5:21. (Col. 3:5 and Eph. 5:5 broadens idolatry to include covetousness.)
The 3rd commandment was reinstated in Col. 3:8.
The 5th commandment was reinstated in Eph. 6:1-3.
The 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th commandments were reinstated in Rom. 13:8-10; Matt. 19:18; Gal. 5:14; 1 Cor. 6:9,10; and Gal. 5:19-21.
Sometimes Heb. 4:4 and 4:9,10 are thought to show the sabbath command was reinstated in the NT merely because the word "sabbath" is found. Let's look at this passage:
For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 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 (Heb. 4:4-10).
Please note: That passage mentions only a "Sabbath rest," but not the keeping of the Sabbath, as Israel was commanded in the Old Testament! Furthermore, this "Sabbath rest" can not be equated with the keeping of the Saturday Sabbath, for even the Israelites who did keep it did not enter this "rest." A Christian finds his spiritual rest in Christ (Mt. 11:28). Only the 4th commandment, which is ceremonial rather than moral, was not reinstated in the New Testament, the covenant we are under today.
2. The Saturday Sabbath Command was a Memorial
The Saturday Sabbath command was given soon after the Israelites were delivered by Moses. Read of the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus 14. The point of Exodus 19:1 was just three months after they left Egypt, with Exodus 20 (when the Ten Commandments were given) coming soon thereafter.
Exodus 20:1-17 is repeated in Deut. 5:6-21, where Moses expounds upon WHY it came and to WHOM the Sabbath command was given.
"Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day" (Deut. 5:15).
As Passover was an annual memorial festival for the Jews to celebrate in memory of God, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt while the firstborn of the Egyptians were struck dead (Ex. 12:14-30), the Saturday Sabbath was also for the Jews to remember weekly their historical deliverance from bitter slavery in Egypt, Deut. 5:15. The Saturday Sabbath command, therefore, was not a "creation ordinance" as some say, according to Deut. 5:15. Also consider the following:
"The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested" (Exo 31:16,17).
3. Christians are permitted to make up their own minds about a Special Day
"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. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord ...." (Rom. 14:5,6).
If the Saturday Sabbath command was still enforced today, as in the Old Testament, such "liberty" would NEVER be allowed! Can you imagine such Christian "liberty" in setting up idols, committing adultery or stealing? Since the latter are clear commands (no idolatry, no adultery, no stealing), there is no such "liberty" regarding these matters, in contrast to a special weekly day to the Lord. Also remember, when Paul gave us Romans 14, he knew about Gen. 2:3 and the rest of the Old Testament. Among Saturday sabbatarians there does NOT exist this Christian liberty!
Col. 2:16,17 adds to all this by saying:
"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."
If it is true, as some say, that the pope changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, then why did first-century Christians sometimes meet on Sunday?
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight (Acts 20:7).
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made (1 Cor. 16:2).
4. The Gentile Christians were NOT commanded to keep the Saturday Sabbath
In Acts 15, the first church council convened over a false teaching of that day:
"Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved," verse 1.
When the Lord's apostles wrote their decision about circumcision for the Gentile Christians to read (Acts 15:23-29), their silence about the observance of the Jewish Sabbath is significant, especially when we consider that breaking the Saturday Sabbath command in the Old Testament carried with it very serious consequences, including the death sentence for offenders (Exo. 31:14-17 cf. Num. 15:32-36):
5. The Real Purpose of the entire Ten Commandments
"So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith." (Gal. 3:24)
"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." (Rom. 3:20)
6. Did the Lord Jesus Command a Person to Sin on the Sabbath
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk' " (John 5:7-11).
The Lord Jesus commanded that invalid, on a Sabbath, to pick up his mat and walk with it to be healed. Hence, this would constitute "work," according to the Old Testament Sabbath command. Since the Lord of the Sabbath could NEVER command a person to sin, we, thereby know that Christians today are NOT under this same Sabbath command as given to Israel in Ex. 20:8-11, which reads:
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (Ex. 20:8-11).
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