Should We Keep the Sabbath?

Creation Research Institute ^ | 2003 | James A. Borland

[imardmd1]

Some groups today, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, teach that keeping the seventh-day Sabbath is a perpetual moral law meant for all people, and that not keeping it is a sign of apostasy and disloyalty to God. They base their belief on Genesis 2:1–3, which tells of God resting after His creative work and then sanctifying the Sabbath day, and on the fourth commandment. They also argue that the New Testament teaches the continuity of seventh-day Sabbath observance by Christ’s followers, even after Christ’s death. These beliefs, however, are misguided. There is no universal moral obligation given in Genesis 2 to keep the Sabbath. Christ’s finished work on the cross, moreover, abrogated the Mosaic law, and thus the fourth commandment no longer applies to Christians.
< snip >

What would be possible on the Sabbath? Jesus attended synagogue, worshiped God, taught and applied the Scriptures, performed deeds of mercy and encouraged others to do the same, and He no doubt rested from some of His usual labor.

If there is a principle that one day in seven belongs to God, then it should be used to arrest us from our normal pursuits and allow us to devote more attention to God’s Word and work, but Christians are not obligated to observe the Sabbath, nor are they committing apostasy if they exercise their Christian liberty not to observe the Sabbath.

*****
This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 26, number 2 (2003)

[Ezekiel]

to guard, keep, observe...

ר
משיח
ל

[Honest Nigerian]

in a way I respect them for trying to honor God, it that is what they think they are doing. But NO ONE is saved by keeping the Law, or by their own works.
Salvation is by Faith alone, in Christ alone.

[af_vet_1981]

Do you realize who wrote the posted article ?

Hank Hanegraaff

Q. What led you to become Orthodox? A. In a word, it comes down to “theosis” (union with God) — my growing realization through prolonged prayer and extensive reflection that this transformative process — and ultimate transformation — is the very purpose of human life. What’s more, I’ve come to realize that we can experience the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. That Holy Communion, rightly understood and administered, is vastly more than memorial. It is the primary means by which we may become by grace what God is by nature. Or as Peter puts it, become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Increasingly, I’m yearning to know not only about Jesus Christ as the way and the truth but also Jesus Christ as the way and the life (John 14:6).

[BipolarBob]

But NO ONE is saved by keeping the Law, or by their own works.
Nobody has said that it did.

Salvation is by Faith alone, in Christ alone.
I totally agree.

[af_vet_1981]

Do you realize who wrote hosted the posted article ?

Hank Hanegraaff

[raygunfan]

aaaah the joy of scripture alone....certainly no confusion here....thought the holy spirit would lead all to the ‘right’ interpretation....hmmmmmm, what can go wrong?

[the_daug]

Turn the argument around. A certain sect of Christianity has said it has the authority to change the Sabbath day from the seventh day to the first day in spite that there is a lack of scripture to do that. If the seventh day is abrogated in the mosaic law then no day is more sacred then another but the seventh day is declared holy at the finish of creation.

[af_vet_1981]

Salvation is by Faith alone ...

"faith alone" is found one time in the scriptures

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

James, Catholic chapter two, Protestant verse twenty four
as authorized, but not authored, by King James

[BipolarBob]

Where's the Pope when you need him?

/s

[impactplayer]

No, that is not what I say - read Hebrews - really read it. This is what the Bible says. The law of the old covenant has been replaced by the law of the new covenant “Love God and Love Man” That’s what Jesus said, “This is the first and great commandment . . . . “
Please, do not spend your life in the Old Covenant, which is gone (fulfilled) forever!

I am on the firm ground of fulfilled scripture. Please listen - and read Hebrews!

[BipolarBob]

I love being justified.

[af_vet_1981]

... in spite that there is a lack of scripture to do that ...

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Matthew, Catholic chapter sixteen, Protestant verses eighteen to nineteen

as authorized, but not authored, by King James

[BipolarBob]

I am on the firm ground of fulfilled scripture

LOL! You're waist deep in quicksand and oblivious to it. Do you know the difference between the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic laws of ordinances and ceremonies? Don't feel bad. A lot of other people don't either. It's getting late but I'll tell you tomorrow, if you wish. it's my bedtime.

peace be to you

[impactplayer]

Jesus said that they could tear the Temple down and he would rebuild it in 3 days - which He did. Do not look for anything to replace Jesus.

[af_vet_1981]

Little bit of a difference between the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic Law.

The Ten Commandments are in Deuteronomy (Chapter Five) while the Greatest commandment is in the next chapter (Chapter Six). The Second Great Commandment is in Leviticus (Chapter Nineteen). There is no actual scriptural distinction in the Torah (Law of Moses) itself between the Ten Commandments and the other commandments.

[Graybeard58]

The Ten Commandments were permanent. Wrote in stone, as it were.

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

Twice.

[Malcolm Reynolds]

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: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Isn't that a bit like finishing last in med school and still being called doctor?

[the_daug]

Mar 2:14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the place of toll, and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
Being Mathew wrote what you posted then you ought not depend on the Aramaic ascendancy of his Gospel as he was able to write in Greek too and Christ is the rock. Now show scripture where Peter changed the Sabbath to the first day.

[Phinneous]

Your name is Rachel? ;)

[af_vet_1981]

The Greatest Commandment, the Second Great Commandment, and the New Covenant are all in the Old Covenant.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates

...

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

...

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord

As authorized, but not authored, by King James
1. Deuteronomy, Catholic chapter six, Protestant verses four to nine
2. Leviticus, Catholic chapter nineteen, Protestant verses seventeen to eighteen
3. Jeremiah, Catholic chapter thirty one, Protestant verses thirty one to thirty seven