And Groups who insist on keeping the sabbath day as a matter of religious obligation strongly believe that the observance of this day is an eternal and inflexible commandment given by God from the beginning of the world. As such, they feel it is binding upon all true believers in Christ today as a necessity for our salvation. The intent of this presentation is to take a closer look at this very serious claim, which implies that Sunday worshippers are automatically in breach of God’s new covenant in Christ Jesus and are in peril of eternal damnation.
The typical defense against this charge may be summarized as follows:
- The sabbath forms part of the law given at Sinai which was done away in Christ (Col. 2:14).
- The Mosaic law was not given to Israel’s forefathers or any other people, but was a covenant specifically between God and the children of Israel (Deut. 5:2-3).
- It was ‘a shadow’ of things to come.
- It was ‘added’ because of transgressions `until…’
- It was a ‘ministration of death’ written on tablets of stone.
- It was a `school-master’ to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24).
All of the foregoing points, while true, are virtually meaningless to advocates of the sabbath, as their main argument is that it was instituted by God long before Sinai, i.e., at the time of creation, for which Genesis 2:2-3 is quoted. This is indeed a very powerful passage of scripture that clearly shows God not only ceased from the creative labors, but also blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. This must mean that, even at that time, the day was set apart as holy.
The sabbath is therefore a practice in self-sacrifice on the part of man and carries many physical, social, and spiritual benefits. Upon this principle it can be reasonably argued that God must have taught our first parents many other binding laws which would lift them above the level of the beasts. Such commands would make them worthy as His prize creation capable of reflecting His glory. For example, they must have known what murder is, in order for Cain to be guilty and suffer God’s judgment. It’s thus likely a sabbath rest was implemented before Sinai.
However, to say that keeping a seventh-day observance by all men was an eternally binding law is a different matter.
It is the principle of rest from self-service that is the critical lesson here, and not the blind observance of a mere 24-hour day. Scripture repeatedly shows that the dispensation of God’s righteousness has been adapted from age to age according to the spiritual development of His people and will so continue to be in the future. For example, true worship was once acceptable only at the temple in Jerusalem, and only the Levites were permitted to minister before Him. Admittedly, this is no longer the case.
Furthermore, advocates of the seventh-day sabbath must acknowledge that there were other laws given before Sinai that were equally evident, such as those pertaining to sacrifice. There must have been divine instruction regarding God’s preference in ritual animal sacrifices and offerings in order for a righteous God to reject Cain’s offering and accept Abel’s. Further, instruction was given concerning clean and unclean animals. Such sacrifices were required of Noah and his family when God made the world anew after the flood, and continued throughout the times of the Old Testament until the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. Yet, no one professing to follow Christ indulges in such sacrifices today because we look to the New Testament for guidance on this matter and we see that such sacrifices were done away at Calvary.
Likewise circumcision (Gen. 17:13-14) was commanded long before the law as an everlasting covenant, under penalty of death! In fact, whenever the laws of sabbath and circumcision clashed, circumcision was given precedence, as we are reminded by Jesus in John 7:23. It was compelled to be carried out on the 8th day whether or not that day was a sabbath! If circumcision was so critical to defining the identity of God’s chosen people, why do we no longer feel that our eternal salvation depends on adherence to it?
Furthermore, we might note the Lord Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day, setting us an example to follow. The answer lies in the fact that again we must be guided by what is explicit in the New Testament which teaches us that the sign of our new covenant with the Heavenly Father is now baptism (total immersion in water) into His son, Christ Jesus.
Sabbath keepers may confidently point to Genesis 17:9, which limits circumcision as a sign to Abraham’s descendants. Quite rightly so! But the same is also said of the sabbath, (Exo. 31:16-17), which is given as a sign between God and the children of Israel forever.
We should also note if keeping the seventh day was so unpardonably inflexible for all time, why is it that this was not specifically recorded as a command given to Abraham? Why was the sabbath not a sign between God and Abraham? Instead, circumcision is this sign. It is therefore evident that there was a very long gap of abstinence from sabbath-keeping leading up to the time the ten commandments were given at Sinai. Why should this be so? It is a serious challenge to basic logic! It follows therefore, that the criteria for continuing to adhere to a specific Old Testament command is whether our Lord Jesus so commands it, either directly or through his apostles.
Is such a command to keep the sabbath given to the church in the New Testament to the extent that our eternal salvation depends on our compliance?
Not by any means! Surely, an inflexible command would have been repeated with great emphasis in a change of dispensation! In fact, all the other nine commandments have been repeated at various points in the New Testament. All are repeated except keeping the seventh day. We do see Jesus attending the synagogues and the temple and worshipping on the sabbath. This is easily explained, however, in that Jesus was a Jew and was compelled to keep the Law given at Sinai until he fulfilled it on the cross.
What about his disciples afterward?
They, too, visited the synagogues and the temple but on every occasion we are told it was to expound the ‘new’ gospel. Indeed, it was their best opportunity to meet with their listeners. So they attended and conducted Bible classes on the sabbath day, explaining how the very law given by Moses was now fulfilled in Christ Jesus, and they were no longer compelled to keep it.
When did the disciples worship?
Many sabbath-keepers today argue that Sunday was instituted as a false sabbath by the Roman Emperor, Constantine, long after the church was already established. This may be true, but is only partly relevant to the question. The real truth is that true believers were already meeting on the first day of the week as early as the days of the apostle Paul. We are told in Acts 20:7 that they met on the first day of the week to ‘break bread,’ that is, to keep the memorial feast of Christ’s sacrificial death. Furthermore, I Corinthians 16:2 shows that it was a regular feature of their worship to meet on the first day.
Why? Because that day reminded them of the most glorious event in all human history: the resurrection of Christ Jesus, our Lord, high priest, saviour, and King! It was a celebration of life as opposed to the old law and custom that reminded them of death.
Throughout the scriptures, a loving and patient God repeats His commandments and warnings to His people, for “He is not willing that any
should perish.” Why should Gentiles be left in doubt on such a critical issue? If this new Sunday practice was unacceptable to the apostles, surely the Jerusalem Council would have at least discouraged it, as they did the other areas causing friction in their fellowship (Acts 15:5-21). The fact is there is no such objection or reprimand.
It is not that Sunday has now become the sabbath, but simply that this ritual observance of a single day of the week is no longer binding for our
eternal salvation. The same may be said of Sunday, or any other day of the week. The purpose of the day (any day) was always meant to supercede the mere day itself. The sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath! (Mk. 2:27-28).
What was the purpose of the sabbath?
As stated at the opening, it was intended as a lesson to mankind that we should honor God first and foremost in our everyday lives. Under the law, one day in seven was compulsory. Should it be any less under the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? The worship and honor of God must graduate from the ritual of keeping one day to an all-consuming self-sacrifice of every-day living. Each day must of necessity be a day of rest from self-service of the flesh. In other words, the true intent of the sabbath has not been done away with, but rather expanded to a far more mature level. The principle is still intact!
Sabbath fulfillment
There is yet a greater fulfillment of the sabbath to come! Hebrews 9:4 tells us that the ultimate day of rest is still to come. Again, some feel this is referring to Saturday! Certainly not! It is the divine fulfillment of what Yahweh Almighty has programmed for all the world since the dawn of history, the coming time when mankind will truly rest in the (seventh) millennial age of a thousand years. In that time, Adam’s curse of sin and death will be in the process of being lifted entirely from the earth, a time when the Prince of Peace will reign in righteousness. The Bible refers to this soon-coming age as the time of the Kingdom of God, when the Lord Jesus Christ and his saints will reign over the earth and mankind will be taught to cease, shabbath, from sin in the true rest of God (Dan. 2:44; Luke 1:31-33; I Cor. 15:24-25). May we labor to enter into that rest.
Conclusion
The period of one specific day sabbath-keeping ended when the dispensation to which it belonged came to an end. That is, an age of spiritual darkness in the sense that the Son of Light had not yet come, and mankind was residing in a spiritually immature age, from Adam and Eve to the time of Jesus’ sacrificial death. No wonder Paul refers to the 10 commandments as a schoolmaster designed by God to bring us to Christ. But now that Christ died at the turning point of human history, and the gospel of grace has burst forth to both Jew and Gentile, the word of God is ready to be inscribed upon the hearts of all men and we are no longer in need of a schoolmaster.
Indeed, the divine principle of the Old Testament is still applicable, but the only rituals we must keep are those commanded us by our Lord Christ Jesus; that is, baptism into his saving name (Luke 16:16) and partaking of the bread and wine (I Cor. 11:23-26) symbols of his once-scrucified body and shed blood.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One