religion_sabbath

FLOYD HAYES

RELIGION

     I keep the seventh-day sabbath not because I was born and raised a Seventh-day Adventist, or because I think I can earn salvation by keeping the sabbath, or because I fear I'll be punished if I don't keep it. Rather, I keep the sabbath simply because I believe God wants me to.
     The day (if any) we choose to worship God centers on the issue of how we worship God: in His way or our own way. Some of my Christian friends tell me I don't have to keep the seventh-day sabbath for the following reasons.

1. GOD changed the sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week.

     If so, why didn't He tell us in the Bible? Luke claimed to have "perfect understanding of all things from the very first" so that we "mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed" (Luke 1:3-4). Luke wrote about "all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up" (Acts 1:1). Yet Luke and his colleagues are mum on the change of the sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first. Not one verse in the Bible declares that sabbath sacredness was transferred from one day to
another.

2. The disciples worshipped together on the first day of week, therefore the sabbath MUST have been changed by Jesus even though the Bible doesn't explicitly say so.

     True, we are told that the disciples gathered together on the first day of the week, but why? On the "first day of the week" when Jesus arose from the dead, "the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews" (John 20:19; italics supplied)--not to worship Jesus on the new sabbath.
     Later on the "first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight" (Acts 20:7). Does this text imply a change in the sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week? Actually the disciples broke bread together daily--not just on the first day of the week (Acts 2:46). And they gathered together to hear Paul's farewell sermon on Saturday night--NOT on Sunday as many Christians believe--since the "first day of the week" began at sundown on Saturday for the Jews (it was the Romans who began and ended each day at midnight). Moreover, Paul routinely worshipped with both Jews and gentiles on the seventh-day sabbath (Acts 13:14, 17:2, 18:4) and would not have traveled on Sunday had it been designated the sabbath.
     Finally, Paul urged each fellow Christian "on the first day of the week" to "lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come" (1 Cor. 16:2). Nothing in this text suggests that Christians met on the first day of the week. Rather, they were to set aside some money at the beginning of the week so that it wouldn't be spent during the week, just as we should set aside our tithe at the beginning of a pay period so it doesn't get spent before the next.
     Many Christians believe Jesus changed the sabbath from Saturday to Sunday to commemorate his resurrection. But the sabbath was instituted as a memorial of God's creation (Gen. 2:2-3), effectively providing an antidote to idolatry. As a reminder that God created heaven and earth, sabbath observance is a sign of our allegiance to the one true Creator. Baptism and the Lord's supper--not the sabbath--were instituted as a memorial of Christ's death and resurrection.
     Many Christians believe that the "Lord's day" in which John was "in the Spirit" (Rev. 1:10) refers to the new Christian sabbath, transferred to the first day of the week. However, Jesus made it clear that "the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath" (Mark 2:28). Nothing in the scripture suggests that the "Lord's day" is anything other than the seventh-day "sabbath of the LORD thy God" (Ex. 20:10). Even though the vast majority of Christians have traditionally recognized Sunday as the "Lord's day" for nearly two millenia, the eventual restoration of the seventh-day sabbath was prophesied by Isaiah (Is. 58:12-14).
     In the absence of direct biblical evidence, those who claim the sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday base their doctrine on human TRADITION rather than the word of God. But should our theology
be based on the word of God or on human tradition? When a conflict occurs, I think it's safest to follow the word of God.

3. The sabbath was intended only for the JEWS to keep, not everybody else. The Lord's day was changed to Sunday to distinguish Christians from Jews, who rejected Jesus.

     The sabbath was instituted on the seventh day of creation week (Gen. 2:2-3), long before anybody was labeled a "Jew." And the Israelites were expected to keep it even before God handed Moses the tablets of stone on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 16). The word "Remember" at the beginning of the sabbath commandment (Ex. 20:8) implies that it originated earlier. Jesus explicitly told us that "The sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27)--not just for the Jews. It was intended to be a "perpetual covenant" to be kept "throughout their generations," "for ever" (Ex. 31:13-17). And we'll continue to observe the sabbath even after Jesus comes, for in the "new heavens and the new earth," "from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh [not just the Jews] come to worship before me, saith the LORD" (Is. 66:22-23).

4. We have to keep the ten commandments, but it doesn't really matter WHICH day of the week we worship God, just as long as we keep one day.

     If so, why was God so specific in identifying WHICH day of the week we were supposed to worship Him? He wrote "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God" (Ex. 20:9-10). If it didn't matter which day of the week we worship Him, wouldn't He have written something like "any seventh day" rather than "the seventh day"? And what's so special about the seventh day? Absolutely nothing--it's purely arbitrary. He could have chosen ANY day of the week, but it just happens to be the day He--not we--chose as the day to rest from His work and for us to rest from our own work. And I think God's choice of making holy a period of TIME, rather than a place or object, was a wise choice. No king can ever destroy time or prevent the sabbath from coming, but a king can prevent people going to a place or destroy an object of worship. Whether we observe it not, the sabbath occurs EVERY week, sweeping the globe.
     Critics of sabbath keeping point out Paul's admonition to "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come" (Col. 2:16-17)? But do "the sabbath days" in this text refer to the weekly sabbath or ceremonial sabbaths (of which there were many)? Obviously this text refers to events that "are a shadow of things to come," such as the ceremonial sabbaths of Lev. 23, but the weekly sabbath was instituted long ago in the past, on the seventh day of the creation week (Gen. 2:2-3), and could not represent "a shadow of things to come." Therefore this text must refer to ceremonial sabbaths rather than the weekly sabbath.

5. We are saved by grace rather than works, therefore we are no longer obliged to keep the ten commandments, which were nailed to the cross, and consequently don't have to keep the sabbath.

     If so, why did God engrave in stone "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8). It's the only commandment beginning with the word "Remember." He knew that we would try to forget it.
     Paul's writings are often used to argue that God's laws were nailed to the cross and are no longer valid (Rom. 6:14, 7:6, 8:2, 10:4; 2 Cor. 3, Col. 2:14). Is this true? The "handwriting of ordinances"--referring to the ceremonial laws--was certainly nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14), but what about God's law? There was a difference between the ceremonial laws and God's law. The ceremonial laws were only a "shadow of things to come" (Col. 2:17), pointing forward to Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. Daniel prophesied that the Messiah's death would "bring an end to sacrifice and offering" (Dan. 9:27). The ceremonial laws were written on paper by Moses and placed on the side of the ark of the covenant; in contrast, God's law--often referred to as the decalogue or ten commandments--was written by God's finger on stone, symbolizing its unchanging nature (can a stone be nailed to the cross?), and placed inside the ark of the covenant (Ex. 31:18, 32:15-16; Deut. 10:1-5, 31:9, 24-26).
     In contrast with the ceremonial laws, the law of God is unchanging. Jesus clearly stated that "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matt. 5:18; compare Luke 16:17). Have heaven and earth passed away? Jesus further taught that "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:19). John, His disciple, wrote "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). This was written long after Jesus ascended to heaven, so apparently John still believed the law should be kept. Furthermore, Paul believed that "where no law is, there is no transgression" (Rom. 4:15) and "sin is not imputed when there is no law" (Rom. 5:13). Because "death reigned from Adam to Moses" (Rom. 5:14) and "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23), God's law existed before Sinai, otherwise there would have been no sin or death. And it still applies today. If God's law is no longer binding today, what is sin? Can you imagine a lawless universe? Could God be so fickle as to require our ancestors to keep the law and suddenly change His mind?
     I think most Christians misunderstand Paul's comments about the law. Many "legalists" (including sabbath keepers) think we can be saved by keeping the law, and this irks many Christians who label sabbath-keepers as legalists. But Paul correctly points out that "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified" (Rom. 3:20). Like a mirror, the law shows us just who we are: sinners in need of a savior. But without the law, which reveals God's will for humanity, we cannot see our sins. By pointing out our sins, the law condemns us (Rom. 3:20, 7:7). We are saved ONLY by God's grace when we exercise our faith in Him (Rom. 3:24, 28, 5:1). But does this mean we don't need to keep God's law? Paul actually asks this question and then answers it: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law" (Rom. 3:31).
     Paul emphasized that "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Rom. 7:12). He never said God's law was abolished or that we shouldn't keep it. But we can't be saved merely by keeping the law by our own efforts. Neither can we be saved by faith without works, for "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). Faith and works are like the oars on a rowboat: you can't go anywhere by rowing just one. If we have faith in God, we will want to keep His law. Keeping His law is evidence of our faith.
     If we no longer have to keep the sabbath as many Christians claim, is it fair that previous generations had to? When Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (Matt. 24:15, Luke 21:20), He commanded His disciples to "pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day" (Matt. 24:20). Obviously He was expecting them to be keeping the sabbath nearly 40 years later when the Romans conquered Jerusalem in AD 70. If we don't keep the sabbath we are guilty of breaking the law. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10).
     Some Christians argue that Jesus taught we no longer have to keep the sabbath because He worked on the sabbath by plucking corn (Matt. 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5), healing the withered hand of a man (Matt. 12:9-13, Mark 3:1-5, Luke 6:6-10), healing a woman's infirmity (Luke 13:10-16), commanding a paralytic to carry His bed after healing him (John 5:2-17) and healing a blind man (John 9:1-34). Because we have to earn a living, such Christians insist there is nothing wrong with working on the sabbath and that those who insist we refrain from work on the sabbath are promoting a legalistic view of salvation by works. However, the Jewish leaders had made the sabbath a burden upon the people by imposing many needless regulations. Jesus criticized them for "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt. 15:9, Mark 7:7) and declared it was "lawful to do well on the sabbath days" (Matt. 12:12). Jesus and his followers always kept the sabbath "according to the commandment," even while Jesus was in the tomb (Luke 23:56).
     Many Christians claim sabbath keeping is unnecessary because they worship EVERY day of the week, not just on the sabbath. But do they REST without working every day of the week? Of course not (unless they're lazy). The decalogue explicitly commands that we REST from our work on the sabbath--and WORK the other six days of the week! Perhaps those who teach that we can work every day of the week are the ones who teach salvation by works.

6. The Jews couldn't keep the sabbath and neither can we.

     As Paul stated, "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom. 3:10). But if we don't have to keep the sabbath simply because we can't, does that mean we don't have to keep the other laws such as refraining from idolatry, stealing, killing or committing adultery? If the
sabbath commandment is not a moral law like the other nine, why did God include it in the middle of the decalogue? Was God serious when he asked us to keep the sabbath, or was it some sort of a cosmic joke? If Satan can cause us to break God's commandments, which is the crux of the argument that we can't keep the sabbath, can't God help us keep them--including the sabbath? Of course! As Paul wrote, "greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). I'm a sinner and I'm guilty of breaking the law, but I can still keep the law including the sabbath commandment because "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13).
     To me, the sabbath is a test of my loyalty to God. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were explicitly told not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Ex. 2:17). There was nothing wrong with the fruit of the tree. It just happened to be the fruit of the tree that God told Adam and Eve not to eat from, yet they disobeyed. Their son Abel offered animal sacrifices as instructed by God, but Cain offered "the fruit of the ground" instead (Gen. 4:3), contrary to God's instructions, and God did not accept His sacrifices. Similarly the sabbath is a test of my obedience.
     God asked us to set aside a day once a week to worship Him. And He left no doubt about which day of the week it should be. Should I worship God on the seventh day as HE explicitly instructed me, or can I worship God on any day I choose? The choice is mine. And it's your's, too. We can worship God on His terms as He has instructed us, or on our own terms. But who am I to question God's explicit instructions for worshipping Him? Adam, Eve and Cain apparently did, and look at what happened. In the absence of Biblical evidence for a change in the sabbath, I choose to worship God on the day He commanded me to because I want to obey Him.
     Time is the essence of a relationship. If I didn't spend enough time with my wife, we probably wouldn't be married for long. It's hard to be friends with somebody who you never spend time with. And God knows that if we don't spend enough time with Him, our relationship with Him would suffer. It's TIME--not money, food, obeisance or sacrifices--that God really wants from us. Time spent meditating on His word, communicating with Him through prayer and seeking to do His will rather than our own. God wants us to be His "friends"--not
servants (John 15:15). He wants us to spend time nurturing our friendship with Him. That is why He gave us the gift of the sabbath.
     By forgetting (or at least trying to forget) about my work and worries once a week and spending time worshipping my Creator and fellowshipping with family and friends, I gain a special blessing that strengthens me until the following sabbath. I'm a workaholic and collapse from exhaustion each Friday evening. The sabbath is a special day in which I have time to do things that are difficult to do during the other days of the week when I'm just too busy. It's a day in which I can forget about finishing up a job, working around the house, going shopping, watching TV or reading the newspaper--all things I can do during other days of the week.
     On sabbath I usually go to church, where I study the Bible with friends and listen to an uplifting sermon. Admittedly the service is sometimes boring or too long; when this occurs I simply read the Bible or even doze (the Bible never says it's wrong to sleep in church). Afterward my wife often invites friends over for lunch. In
the afternoon I either take a nap or go for a walk somewhere. Although many of my friends go to a worship service in the evening, I prefer spending the remainder of the day with my family. I don't even go to church every week (and nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to). Often I take my family and a few friends on an excursion in nature--God's cathedral--where I feel even closer to God than when I'm in church. We go for a walk and enjoy watching birds, looking for snakes, etc., communing with God in his creation. But if I skip going to church too often, I miss it. There's something about fellowshiping with other believers that I thirst for. And attending church always reminds me that I need to make God my first priority in life--not just on the sabbath but during every day of the week.
     For me the sabbath is a day of rest and gladness. But to many it is a day of wrest and sadness. A day of "don't do this" and "don't do that." Observing the seventh-day sabbath will ALWAYS be a stumbling block for many Christians who are unwilling to give up their time to God. They would rather spend the day doing their own thing--making money or pursuing secular interests. Keeping the seventh-day sabbath is just too much of a sacrifice to make. I have heard countless excuses from those who resist keeping the seventh-day sabbath. Many
prefer to go along with the crowd in superficially observing the first day of the week as their sabbath. They might go to church in the morning and, having done their religious duty for the day, spend the remainder of the day playing football, watching television, or engaging in some other secular activity in which God is relegated to
the distant recesses of the mind. In their view seventh-day sabbath keepers are few and generally detested, miserably mistaken in their fanaticism. Seventh-day sabbath keeping will never be popular. In contrast, Sunday observance is popularly supported by the vast majority of Christian clergy and their followers. Millions just can't
be wrong. Or can they?
     I know that many Christians sincerely believe that Sunday is the Lord's day and that they are doing the right thing. And I won't question their sincerity. I believe that throughout history God has accepted the worship of those who sincerely believed they worshipped Him according to His will to the best of their understanding. But
unfortunately many of us nominally accept as the gospel truth what we are taught as children by our parents, teachers and ministers. We don't take the time to earnestly seek God's will for us by searching His word. When God is not our first priority in life, we risk being led astray by false doctrines that ultimately may affect our
salvation.
     So, my friend, the choice is your's: to worship God as He asks you to or in any way you choose. I'm praying that you'll make the right choice...

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. -Exodus 20:8

WHICH DAY IS THE SABBATH?

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