The Sabbath
The Sabbath:
Is it Saturday, Sunday or just a Principle?
Biblical Evidence #1: Mark 2:27, 28
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2: 27, 28
Notice Jesus said, "the sabbath was Made." The Greek word "ginomai" means assembled. Like human beings, animals, the earth and the cosmos, which we can all see and interact with today, were all made during creation week. The sabbath is the same. And Jesus' words points back to creation and not to Mount Sinai where the Ten Commandments were given.
The Greek word used for the word man is the word "anthropon". It means "mankind". Notice Jesus did not say it was made for the Jews or given only to the Jews. It was made for everyone. So, just like the trees on the third day and the sun on the fourth day, which were created for all mankind. The sabbath was created as something essential for the survival of mankind and to be a blessing to all mankind and it was made long before there was a single Jew.
Now, the Pharisees and others were keeping it for the wrong reasons. Jesus had to correct them many times on how to keep the sabbath. Never once, was there a controversy on which day is the sabbath day nor a hint by Jesus that it would be changed, but rather, how is it to be kept? In fact, Luke 4:16 states that "He kept the sabbath day as his custom was." Jesus kept the seventh-day sabbath out of a loving relationship that existed between the Father and Himself. In fact they made the day together.
Unlike the Pharisee who attached many legalistic rules to the sabbath, there were many who also celebrated and kept the seventh-day sabbath for the right reason like Jesus did, and many who continue to do so today. Not to be saved, but because they are saved. Not to receive God’s favor. But because they already have God’s favor. Not for God to love them more. But because they are in a loving relationship with God already. Not a time to not do this and to not do that. But a special time to deepen our relationship with God and to rejuvenate physically. In this way the sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath.
Biblical Evidence #2: Genesis 2:1
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
Adam and Eve were created at the end of the sixth day. Which means that, their first moments of life were spent enjoying things they had no part in making. The only thing they did, was to partake of things that were completely put together by God for them. And as a sign of His finished work, His everlasting love and grace, God then rested on the seventh day.
When Jesus was on the cross he said "It Is Finished". Which points back again to the creation. Because, Jesus had just accomplished that which mankind had no part in completing. He had lived the righteous life that mankind could not live and he was about to die the sacrificial death that mankind could not pay for their sins. Thus after completing the work of salvation, he echoed the same exclamation as in Genesis 1:26 when he said "It Is Finished". Now that His work of salvation was complete and made available to all. The only thing mankind had to do as in the creation was to joyfully receive it as a gift. And as a sign of His everlasting love, amazing grace and finished work of redemption, the Bible says He was placed in a tomb on the sabbath, the seventh-day where He rested.
The first moments of life for Adam and Eve were special to the God that made them. And so is every one that is born again. Like parents welcoming there child into the world, never to forget the first moments spent with each other, so special is the seventh-day sabbath to God. No other day can substitute for our birthday. No other is the same to God. The seventh-day sabbath reminds us of God's everlasting love and His amazing grace expressed through is finished works of creation and redemption.
After completing his work a creation and redemption the bible says that God rested on the seventh-day sabbath.
Biblical Evidence #3: Genesis 2:2,3
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
God blessed the seventh-day. This is specific. Therefore, since God did not pronounced such a blessing on any other day, it means that they were blessings bestowed only upon this time period that cannot be received during any other. The Book of Revelations says, "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy"..1:3. The words of This prophecy is blessed, from the day it was given to John to now. But only those who read it will receive the special blessing. The seventh-day sabbath is infused with blessings for those who celebrate it and keep it like Jesus did. Like Revelation, the seventh-day sabbath is also present today and no other book or day can substituted for their unique blessings.
God sanctified the seventh-day. Sanctified means, God separated it from the rest of the six days. He hallowed it, in that he made it holy. We would not allow sporting games to be held in the sanctuary of churches today. Because we consider God's sanctuary (a physical structure), to be holy, or set aside for special use by him and his people. For example, God told Moses to take off is shoes because the place where he was standing is holy ground. In the case of the seventh-day sabbath it is the time period that is holy. It is the period of time (24hrs) from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday that God has set aside for holy use. It is like a place in time. Therefore, it is something tangible, something that was made, something that cannot disappear and thus something that cannot just be a principle, but was made with principles to follow.
God rested upon the seventh-day. God worked from the first day to the sixth day and then rested. He did not need physical rest, but he rested. Thus, His resting was not for Himself but an example for us. That's why Jesus said, "the sabbath was made for man." God did not create the sabbath for Himself. He knew that mankind will need a time for spiritual, physical and social rest and rejuvenation. And so He assembled it together for us.
Biblical Evidence #4 - Exodus 20:8-11
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
Notice this is the only command that begins with the word “Remember”. Be careful not to forget. It is referring to something given and known of before Mount Sinai. Verse 11 reaffirms that this day was made during creation week. Also Exodus 16, four chapters earlier, shares a seventh-day sabbath experience that the people had in the wilderness with God. The fact that the command points back to the creation (verse 11) eliminates the point of it being given only to the Jews. Jesus clarified that when He said that "the sabbath was made for man". Not for the Jews but for Mankind. There was no Jew around during creation.
The Bible describes a day in Genesis 1, as an "evening and a morning". There is no doubt that this is speaking of a 24 hr period. The command says six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord Thy God. This is not speaking of an age. If the first day was a period of 24 hrs. Then the seventh day must be the same.
Notice that the command is also for man to work. Adam was given work or labor to perform before he sinned. God did not create man to pick cherries and pet animals and sing "cum by yah my Lord" every day. God had set the example for man to work. "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." Gen 2:15. Therefore, work was to be apart of mans' life and like God, there was also to be a time of no work, no labor, only a time of rest. And this rest was to be taken on every seventh day. The God of the Bible is a practical God. Like most automobiles that has to be serviced every 3000 miles. God, created mankind to live on a weekly cycle of seven days. Six days of work and one full day of rest. And as the designer and maker He knew why He assembled mankind like that and gave them a manual of operation. And that manual says the seventh-day is the sabbath of the Lord Thy God. And not any one we fill like choosing as our rest day, but the one the commandment says He rested on, blessed and hallowed
It was also to be kept. The seventh-day sabbath of the Lord, a 24hr period was to be kept. It was to be observed or celebrated. God is looking forward to this special occasion every week. And He made sure He wrote it with His very own finger in stone. He made it apart of the ten commandments, which describes a relationship with God and a relationship with others. God is very specific in His words.
Biblical Evidence #5 - Luke:4:16 and Acts 17:2-4
"So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read." Luke 4:16.
"As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. " Act 17:2-4
Jesus kept the seventh-day Sabbath. His custom was to be in the house of God on the seventh-day. Many years after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, Paul's custom was to also be in the house of God on the sabbath day. But not him alone, but the scriptures say that a large number of God fearing gentiles as well. They being Jews observed the sabbath the same time as the Jews of his time and thus the Jews today. Which is from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. So in order to know when is the sabbath day all we have to do is to observe Jesus' and Paul's custom. There was never a controversy on when was the Sabbath to be kept in NT. But How? And neither, Jesus nor Paul made no suggestion of any change of the Seventh-day Sabbath Rest but they clearly kept the same.
Biblical Evidence #6 - Acts 13:14, 42 and 18:4
"But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down." Acts 13:14.
"So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Acts 13:42
"And he (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks." Acts 18:4.
The disciples also followed their Lord’s custom, years after his resurrection and ascension. And if the sabbath had been changed to Sunday because of Jesus' resurrection, why wouldn't the Gentiles beg for the word to be preached to them the following Sunday. Instead they begged for them to come back the following Sabbath.
Biblical Evidence #7 - Matthew 24:18-21
"Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again."
Jesus fully expected that his followers would be keeping the sabbath, during the fulfillment of this prophecy regarding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. This is over 30 years after is resurrection.
Only (8) New Testament text that mention the first day of the week.
Biblical Evidence#8 - Matt 28:1; Luke 16:1,2; 24:1, Mark 19:9, Jn 20:1
"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." Matt 28:1
All five text (5) says the same thing. That the women came to the tomb looking for the body of the Lord Jesus. None of these texts, say or suggest that the disciples chose the first day of the week in place of the seventh day, in commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ.
Even more ridiculous, is that none of these texts states that they were having a celebration service on the first day of the week. They were in tears of sadness, when they did not see His body in the tomb.
Biblical Evidence #9 - John 20:19
"Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."
The evidence cannot be more clearer than stated in the text. The disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews and not to celebrate the resurrection. In fact, at this point they didn't even believe that Jesus was alive. It is hard to believe that celebration and the commemoration of a day was taking place where there was tremendous fear and unbelief.
Biblical Evidence #10 - Acts 8:20
"And upon 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."
This event took place on Saturday night. And it could have been on any other night. No where in this text states a regular service or the celebration of Christ resurrection or for that fact that the solemnity of the sabbath was now transferred to the first day. Acts 2:46 states that they continued “daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house.” Therefore breaking bread on this occasion does not apply any special significance to the first day. The Biblical Evidence simply shares that this meeting was held, because, Paul was about to leave on a journey and he wanted to break bread with the church once more before they parted.
Biblical Evidence #11 - 1 Cor.16:2
"Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."
Paul was on his way to Jerusalem and he wanted to stop by the saints homes and to gather some gifts to share with the people. He did not want to get there and people are just starting to put stuff together. He wanted it to be ready. To suggest that this or the other seven text is showing that the new testament church was keeping worship services in honor of the resurrection of Christ is simply baseless. The Biblical evidence shares Paul exhorts the saints to lay by on the first day of the week a sum proportionate to the prospering hand of God so when he is passing by, it will be ready for him to collect. Not a public gathering of gifts but a private one. No mention of a church service or a gathering of the saints.
Other Biblical References
Biblical Evidence #12 - Rev 1:10
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet."
No where in the text is the First day of the week mentioned. No where in the Bible is the First day called the Lord’s Day. However, in Exodus 20:8-11. “The Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” And in Mark 2:28: “The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” No worship service taking place here. John was about to receive a vision from the Lord when he heard something. Visions can be given any time or any day. This does not in any way affected the solemnity of a day.
Biblical Evidence #13 - Col 2:16
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Seven (7) annual (not weekly) ceremonial Sabbaths were given by God as shadows or pointers to the first coming of the Messiah. They are; the Passover, the unleavened bread, wave sheaf, first fruits, trumpets, Day of Atonement, tabernacles. Lev 23:5-32.
All these feast found their fulfillment in the great (Passover) lamb that would be slain for the sins of the world. And all these feast were given to the God's people and written by Moses on paper and placed at the side of the ark of the covenant. The feast days were temporal. The seventh-day sabbath however, was given to mankind at creation, written by God Himself with His finger on stone, and place on the inside of the ark. This signifies permanence.
Notice also that these feast involved food, drinks, new moons and sacrifices. And remember they were held once a year. But the seventh-day sabbath was weekly and does not include these things.
"These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day, besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD." Lev 23:37, 38.
Notice that the author of Leviticus now distinguishes the Sabbaths connected with the feast from the Sabbaths of the Lord. Those Sabbaths were to be kept along with the seventh-day Sabbaths of the Lord. They were the shadow. It was these Sabbaths that pointed to first Christ coming, and were of no use after he ascended to heaven. Not the seventh-day sabbath that He created in Genesis. Paul being a Jew is clearly referring to the annual Sabbaths connected with the feast days in Lev 23:5-32 as being nailed to the cross and not the seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord.
Biblical Evidence #14 - Rom 14:5,6
"One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks."
No mention of worship or the Sabbath day.
No mention of worship on or celebrating the resurrection of Christ
Other beliefs about the Sabbath
"Although the Lord’s Day is rooted in the very work of creation and even more in the mystery of Biblical [Sabbath] rest of God, it is nonetheless to the Resurrection of Christ that we must look in order to understand fully the Lord’s Day.” More than a replacement of the Sabbath, therefore, Sunday is its fulfillment, and in a certain sense its extension and full expression in the ordered unfolding of the history of salvation, which reaches its culmination in Christ."
 
Pope John Paul II—Dies Domini
On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl
_05071998_dies-domini_en.html
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"Because Sunday is ultimately about encountering the risen Christ in word and sacrament, its span extends through the whole of reality. The early Christians celebrated the first day of the week as the Lord’s day, because it was the day of the resurrection. Yet very soon, the Church also came to realize that the first day of the week is the day of the dawning of creation, the day on which God said: “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3). Therefore Sunday is also the Church’s weekly feast of creation – the feast of thanksgiving and joy over God’s creation. At a time when creation seems to be endangered in so many ways through human activity, we should consciously advert to this dimension of Sunday too. Then, for the early Church, the first day increasingly assimilated the traditional meaning of the seventh day, the Sabbath. We participate in God’s rest, which embraces all of humanity. Thus we sense on this day something of the freedom and equality of all God’s creatures."
 
Pope Benedict XVI
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/
2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20070909_wien_en.html
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Which day are we supposed to keep as the Sabbath?
“When God raised Christ from the dead in power and glory on the first day of the week, the followers of Christ were led to honor Him and the resurrection on the first day of the week. Scriptural warrant for giving special worship and honor to Christ on the first day of the week, the "Lord's Day," is found in Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2, Revelation 1:10.
Many Christians and churches believe that worshiping and serving Christ on Sunday in commemoration of His resurrection completely fulfills the requirement of the Fourth Commandment. In this understanding, the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh day of the week to the first day because of Christ's resurrection. It is now a memorial of God's new covenant and His greater spiritual creation and deliverance of the church from sin and death."
 
Billy Graham
http://www.billygraham.org/LFA_Article.asp?ArticleID=77
______________________________________________________________________________________ "The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Ex 20:8-11; Matt 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; Rom 14:5-10; I Cori16:1-2; Col 2:16; 3:16; Rev1:10."
Southern Baptist Convention– Baptist Faith & Message -8: The Lord’s Day
"Third, even though there is no clear teaching in Scripture that changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday, there is unambiguous evidence that the early church met to worship on the first day of the week. Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, which was the first work day of the Jewish week, and almost immediately thereafter the Bible records the church meeting on the evening of the first day of the week (John 20:19; Acts 20:7). In his teaching on giving, Paul instructs the Corinthians to receive the offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem on the first day of the week (1 Cor 16:2). Many scholars believe that John’s phrase, “the Lord’s Day,” in Revelation 1:10 refers to the first day of the week as well.
 
Dr. Hershael York—Associate Dean
An Exposition from the Faculty of
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on
The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 (BF&M) on The Lord's day.
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"The Sabbath, the first institution given to man, is one that is vitally important. It is the longest commandment of the Ten—with more words dedicated to that throughout the rest of the Scripture, and mentioned more than virtually any other commandment. It is a very serious matter, and God intends us to keep it."
Dr. D. James Kennedy
The Kennedy Commentary. The Sabbath
http://www.coralridge.org/kenncomm/071002.htm
"It (The Sabbath) was changed by Christ and his apostles, by their example…We see that Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week. We see that he appeared unto the women on the first day of the week. That he appeared unto his disciples all but Thomas on the first day of the week. Then a week later he appeared unto all including Thomas . We see furthermore, that the church began on the first day of the week. That Pentecost was on the first day of the week. And the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church on the first day of the week. And the first Christian sermon was preached on the first day of the week. And on the first day of the week they celebrated the Lord’s supper. And on the first day of the week they laid aside their monies as offerings. And that came to be known as John describes it as the Lord’s Day. "
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"God gave the Old Testament Sabbath to Israel. God has given to us something even better. It is the Lord’s day, which is the transformation of the Sabbath into something even more wonderful. And it is a fulfillment of the Sabbath...This is why we celebrate the first day of the week. This is why the Lord’s day, Sunday, is the day we are here to worship. Why? Because Jesus burst asunder the bonds of death and came out of the grave upon the first day of the week. And it is called in the Bible in Revelation 1:10 “The Lord’s Day”.
 
Adrian Rogers
Sermon Entitled: How to make the rest day the best day
"The NT church chose to recognize the first day of the week . Why? In recognition of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Dr. Charles Stanley
Sermon entitled: “The Ten Commandments”
Click Here To Watch Sermon
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"I still have a lot of friends who worship the Lord on Saturday, which technically is the sabbath day.... The sabbath day was that announcement that God made to himself and to the world that He was finished, that the work was complete and that all was set in order. That he had rested from all his labor and his toil. It was his announcement to all the created things that the creation was completed that he had set in motion a cycle that was sufficient to stop him from needing to get up and do anything else, that he was complete, that he was through, that God rested from all of his labor. Not so much that we would have a brief rest and go back to work again, because God was through with creation. When God was through with creation we were to enter in the rest with him and man entered into the rest with the Lord on the Sabbath day and stayed, in that state of rest and there is no mention of days, or works or labors any more until Adam sinned. And when Adam sinned in the Garden we see God working , walking again, the voice of the Lord, walking through the cool of the garden, saying Adam where art thou. In essence my brothers and sisters sin broke the rest on the sabbath day....And God said in Exodus as he gives the Ten Commandments to remember the sabbath day. To remember that sin breaks rest.
In the Old Testament God start teaching us rest, by showing us a day. An ion, which is an age, which is a period. God wants us to understand that there is a period and a time where man is to enter into rest. You will minimize the plan of God if you diminish this period down to a 24hrs period. In the shadow it might be a 24hr period, but in the reality it is the age of grace in which we live right now.
Now what caused God the Father in creation to bring us into this rest is that he had finished from his labor. He was finished from his labor and he announced that he was finished by entering into His rest. What God the Father did in the Old Testament at the end of the creation by entering into his rest, God the Son did in redemption, when he had ceased from his labor of redemption... And when he was finished with his redemptive process, the bible says that your God and my God sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high and entered into his rest. This is the rest that the Lord wants us to come into, not a 24hr period , not the memory of a day. "
Bishop TD Jakes
Sermon: RSVP - The Sabbath
Click Here To Watch Sermon
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Matching the Evidence with Contemporary Teaching
We greatly admire the contribution of all these men have made and continue to make to the shepherding of the flock of Jesus Christ. However, the biblical evidence does not lead to their conclusions regarding the seventh-day Sabbath. On the contrary it leads to the following conclusions.
No where in the Bible it is stated that the Apostles chose to celebrate the first day of the week in honor of the resurrection of Christ. Only eight references of the first day of the week in the NT scripture and not one gives warrant for giving special worship and honor to Christ on the first day of the week.
Not because some NT events took place on the first day of the week, including the resurrection of Jesus, this should lead to the conclusion that Jesus and the Apostles changed the Sabbath day or that it was fulfilled or replaced by the first day of the week. This is not good theology nor is it consistent with solid biblical hermeneutics. In fact, when each text is examined, they are simply stating facts, with no underline reference of any change.
To site or to say that Rev 1:10 calls or refer to the first day of the week as the Lord’s day is really an insult to the intelligence of the biblical students. There is no mention of the first day or John calling it the Lord’s day in the text or for that fact in the scriptures.
Notice Dr. Stanley is not following the evidence correctly. First he states that the Ten Commandments are unchanging and that the laws of Moses is totally different from that of the moral law, the Ten Commandments. Then he goes to Col 2:16, and he takes the word, Sabbaths and interprets it as the fourth commandment Sabbath and then places it in the Mosaic law. The Biblical evidence does not allow such interaction. It is either separate or not. The Sabbaths Paul refers to are those Sabbaths connected with eating, drinking, festivals and new moon. All those annual Sabbaths were written in the law of Moses and place at the side of the ark of the covenant and have been nailed to the cross. While the weekly, seventh day, fourth commandment Sabbath, inscribed by God in the Ten Commandment was placed inside of the ark. And has Dr. Stanley says, “This is the standard that God has never one time, even ever hinted, the rest of the scriptures where it no longer apply.”
God blessed and sanctified the seventh-day of the week. Sanctified means he separated it from the rest. He hallowed it in that he made it holy. Just as how we consider his sanctuary, to be holy, or set aside for special use by him and his people, in this case it is the time period from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday that he has set aside for holy use. It is like a place in time. Therefore it cannot just be a principle nor can we chose which day we want to be holy, and it was clearly not changed to the first day of the week.
Certainly none of these men would say it is legalistic to give a faithful tithe. The command to tithe was given to the Israelites in the OT. ( Lev 27.32, Deut 14:22). It is still in practiced today and it is given out of a love relationship with Jesus, not to secure one. This is the same with the Seventh-day Sabbath. If you love me keep my commandments, Jesus says. Surely the Pharisees and others kept it for the wrong reasons, but there were many you did for the right reason and many who continue to do so today. Not to be saved, but because they are saved. Not to receive God’s favor. But because they already have God’s favor. No out of man’s traditions. But from the clear teaching of the Bible.
The Sabbath was made by Jesus to be of benefit to mankind. It is called a delight by Ezekiel. It is a specific, sanctified time., filled with many principles for life and is joyfully celebrated in honor of our Creator and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. |
