Many times the question comes up concerning the "Sabbath Day" and whether or not we should indeed celebrate it on Saturday. We see, of course, that one of the denomination has even made it a major doctrine of their religion. That denomination is known as the Seventh Day Adventists, and the fact that observance of the Sabbath day is indeed a central part of their doctrine. In answering this question, the first point I would like to make here, is that I do not believe that it is necessary for us to acknowledge one particular day each week in order to honour the Lord. As far as I am concerned, every day is a special blessing, because every day is given to us to live by the Lord. As the Psalmist was inspired to write:
Over a thousand years later, the Apostle Paul penned the following words to the brethren at Rome, when they too were apparently having problems, because some of them felt that it was necessary to observe certain feast days, while some of the others viewed every day as being the same, and of equal importance:
Rather than acknowledge a particular day as part of a weekly ritual, because it is mandated by some branch of organized religion, I believe that it is much more important that we acknowledge the Lord in our lives; and quite frankly, in our home, we do this every single day of the year, and not just on one day of the week when worldly people try to show their holiness and devotion to God. We shouldn't do things out of mere habit, or simply because it is the politically correct to do, but rather because we have thankful hearts. If we do have thankful hearts for all that the Lord has done for us, we will manifest our thankfulness to Him every day, and we will acknowledge Him every day. If we are not truly living our lives in obedience to God's Word and Will; and if we are not acknowledging Him in our lives every single day of the year; then setting aside one hour of one day a week is nothing short of total hypocrisy, and God doesn't like it! As I point out in the article "The Biblical Practice Of Fasting", by the time that Jesus arrived during the First Century, the so-called worship of the spiritual elders of Israel had been reduced to nothing more than a pitiful and hypocritical charade before both God and man. It was all talk and no substance; it was spiritless and dead; just like so many modern church services today. It is for this reason that Jesus strongly rebuked the Scribes and the Pharisees, and thoroughly exposed their sins and the hypocrisy of their ways, in such discourses as that found in Matthew chapter twenty-three. In the Gospel of Mark, the Lord very pointedly told His self-righteous religious enemies that they honoured God with their mouths, while their hearts were very far from Him, as we see here:
As you can see, in rebuking the spiritual elders of Israel, Jesus was quoting from the Prophet Isaiah. This is because since the days of the Prophets, the Lord had been rebuking the Israelites because of their dry, spiritless religion of dead works. This, of course, included their observance of certain feast days, including the sabbaths. These solemn practices had become utterly worthless and vain. In fact, they were quite disgusting to the Lord, because they were not being done from the heart; and they were not coupled with true obedience; as we see by the following verses:
"Isn't that amazing?" The ancient Israelites were going through all of the right motions of pretending to be a holy sanctified people with all of their special feast days and Sabbath observations; they were making long prayers to God; they were offering their morning and evening sacrifices; they were getting together and having their solemn meetings; and the Lord was utterly sick of it. He didn't want to have anything to do with it. In fact, He even went so far as to say that He didn't even want to hear their prayers because they stunk in His nostrils. Their prayers were no longer a sweet-smelling incense to Him; they had become a foul odor which nauseated Him. How much those verses remind me of so many "modern church-goers" who also go through the motions of pretending to be Christian, while they live their daily lives in "hypocrisy" and deep sin, and collectively do things to other nations of the world, which a Christian people simply should not do! It should be clear then, that if "our hearts" are not right with the Lord, going to church on Sunday, or Saturday, or Wednesday is not only a meaningless act, it is in fact a "hypocritical act; legalism at its worst;" and God utterly hates it. But returning to our main point concerning the necessity of observing holy days such as the Sabbath, the simple truth of the matter is that we Christians are "not" under the Old Testament Covenant; we are under the New Testament Covenant; which was "signed and sealed by Jesus' own Blood". I explain this concept in more detail in such articles as 'Is Jesus The Only Begotten Son Of God?', as well as in 'The Blood Atonement: In Jesus' Own Words'. I encourage you to read them if you desire a more in-depth understanding of the significance of the Sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The point is, being as we Christians are covered by the New Testament Covenant, or agreement if you prefer, we are no longer bound by the bondage of the Old Testament Law as the pre-Christian era Israelites were. As I explain in quite a few other articles, such as in 'The Royal Law: Thou Shalt Love', Jesus came to free us from dependence upon the Law. That is why in explaining these things to the Law-observing Jews of His time, He said such things as the following:
Jesus was free from the Law; and He taught His followers that they could be free from the Law as well. For example; after an incident where the Lord's Disciples were caught picking corn on the Sabbath day, consider what happened next:
On another occasion, when Jesus was about to perform another miracle of healing, once again His religious Law-observing enemies found opportunity to attack Him. Notice again how the Lord responded and put them to shame due to their self-righteous legalism, and lack of love and mercy:
Over and over again those "self-righteous", supposedly "Law-observing" Scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Mosaic and Levitical Laws; and each time, Jesus would respond to their "holier-than-thou" accusations with words such as we find in the previous two examples. Jesus offered them an opportunity to be freed from the weight and burden of the Law, but many of them simply refused to accept His invitation. They preferred the old ways, the old customs, the old traditions, and the old doctrines, because through their rejection of Christ, they could continue to boast of their own supposed righteousness, as well as keep the common people under their control, through their subtle manipulation of the Law. How much this sounds like some churches today, which make certain "unnecessary demands" upon their blind flocks; such as forced observance of the Sabbath, or honouring Mary and the Saints, or going to confession, or being baptized in a certain way.. Please notice precisely what the Lord says in the previous verses. First of all, He tells them that "He is the Lord of the Sabbath". What does He mean by that? In my view, He is saying that He and His Father created the Sabbath, so He is entitled to do whatever He wants to do on it, whether they like it, or agree with it, or not. Second, the Lord is also very clearly saying that the Sabbath was not made for men to be under bondage to it. That is why He says "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath". The idea behind the Sabbath, was simply to instruct men to rest when their bodies required it. That, in my opinion, is the spirit, and true intent, of the Law concerning the Sabbath. You need to remember that the Israelites were under Egyptian bondage for a period of several hundred years. They didn't have a day off from work; they didn't know what it meant to rest; so the Lord had to teach them to do so by making it a law. As I have pointed out in some of my other articles, the Apostle Paul tells us plainly that "the Law was only meant to serve as a schoolmaster", to bring us to Christ; at which time our dependence would be upon Him, and not upon "strict adherence" to the Mosaic Law, for our Salvation, as we see here:
Sadly, as we have already seen, some people today, even certain "Christian denominations", such as the "Seventh Day Adventists", are just like those self-righteous Jews of old. They have taken a step into the legalistic past by mandating that their members observe the Sabbath. Such people have "fallen under the bondage of the letter of the Law", instead of being Spirit-led, and freed through Christ. In describing the Law-bound Jews of his own time, and explaining how New Testament Christians must be led by the Spirit instead, the Apostle Paul wrote:
You see; as Paul says there, we can choose to live according to the letter of the Law as the Jews did; we can try to do everything right on the physical level, (such as be circumcised, or observe the Sabbath), in order to convince other people of how good and holy we are, so that we might win their praise, "but it is all nothing but dead, legalistic, self-glorifying works"; and in the end, they will amount to nothing, and they will be burned. As the Apostle Paul also wrote:
What God desires of us most, "is true worship of the Spirit", in humility, so that He can receive the praise, glory and honour, and not us. As Jesus said to the woman at the well so long ago:
To be quite honest, I am not very familiar with the doctrine of the Seventh Day Adventists. I don't know if they view the observance of the Sabbath as an essential part of God's Salvation Plan. I certainly hope that they don't, because if there is one thing of which I am absolutely certain, "it is that our so-called 'good works', including observance of the Sabbath, cannot possibly ever save us, or contribute to our Salvation in any way". As I point out in such articles as 'Are You Crucified With Christ?', Jesus Christ paid the full price for our Salvation, and our works cannot add to what He has already accomplished. As I have shared with my friends and readers many times before, the Scriptures plainly tell us:
So either we believe that we are saved fully and totally by "God's Grace", or else we try to save ourselves through our own so-called good works and observance of the Mosaic Law. We simply cannot have "one foot standing upon Grace, while the other is standing upon the Law and good works". Please don't misunderstand my words. "I am not saying that there is no place in the life of the Christian for works". As I point out in such articles as "Parable Of The Sower: Salvation And Service", as well as in "Study, Work, And Don't Be Ashamed", works are indeed a very important part of our walk and life service to the Lord; but, if we are counting on our works to save us, if our faith is in our works, then we are doomed to absolute failure from the start; because we will never be good enough, or holy enough, or worthy enough, to deserve Salvation and Eternal Life of our own accord; because as James wrote, absolutely none of us can keep the entire body of the Mosaic Law. If we break even just one of them, we are guilty of having broken them all:
Furthermore, if we could keep the entire Law, and save ourselves through our own good works, then as Paul also wrote to the Galatians, we have nullified the Sacrifice of Christ, and He died in vain:
The reason why Jesus was able to do the things which He did on the Sabbath day, is because He was free from the letter of the Law; and so are we when we believe in Him, and accept His Atonement for our sins. It is just that simple. "We simply cannot be saved through our observance of any part of the Old Testament Mosaic Law", including the observance of the Sabbath; because "if we could, that would be depending upon ourselves, instead of upon the Sacrifice of Christ". Allow me to share with you a few more important Scriptures on this subject, as they make this very clear to those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear:
Notice in that last verse, Paul is telling the backslidden Galatian brethren the very same thing that he wrote to the Roman brethren in Romans 11:6; and that is, that either we are saved, or justified, by the Law, meaning our own good works, or else we are saved solely by God's Grace. There simply can be no mixing of the two; and that is precisely what some modern-day Christians, such as the Seventh Day Adventists, or perhaps the Messianic Jews, are doing, when they insist that we must believe in Jesus, but we must also fulfill parts of the old Mosaic Law, such as observing the Sabbath. They are trying to mix the Old Covenant, which was sealed by the blood of animals, with the New Covenant, which was sealed by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, or as the Lord Himself called it, the Blood of the New Testament:
So at this point we must ask ourselves this: "Am I a New Covenant Christian, or am I bound to the Old Testament Law like those legalistic Jews of old? Do I truly trust completely in the Blood of Jesus Christ for my salvation, or am I secretly trusting in my own perceived goodness and self-righteousness?" Personally, I am convinced that we New Testament era Christians "are not bound by the mandates of the Mosaic Law for our Salvation". Our only hope is in Christ. Furthermore, I believe that no one should place unnecessary burdens upon others, or attempt to add to God's finished work through Christ, because of the rigid dogma of their particular denomination. As James, Peter and the other Apostles wrote to the Gentile Christian brethren who were living outside of Israel:
Allow me to ask you a final question: "If the Jewish-born Jerusalem brethren, (who personally knew and were taught by Jesus Christ Himself), considered it very important for the Gentile Christians to observe the Sabbath day, why didn't they include it in this list of recommended observances which they sent to them?" The answer seems very obvious to me: "They didn't consider the Sabbath observance necessary, or even a priority, for the Gentile brethren". In fact, after explaining to the Colossian brethren how Christ had freed them from the curse of the Law, by nailing the ordinances of the same on His own Cross, the Apostle Paul then tells them to not let anyone judge them because of what they did or didn't eat or drink, or because they didn't observe the various feasts and sabbaths like the legalistic Jews did:
Just as Paul had questioned the Galatians regarding why they had backslidden from the freedom they had gained in Christ, and allowed the legalistic Jews to place them anew under the bondage of the Law, he also questions the Colossian brethren in a similar manner when a few verses later he states:
In other words, Paul is saying, "If you truly believe that you have become dead to the Law through the body of Christ, then why are you still observing and obeying the doctrines and commandments of men, according to the Mosaic Law?". So what we have seen then, is that Jesus, the Jewish Apostles, and Paul, all make it clear that we are no longer bound by the mandates of the Mosaic Law, insofar as our Salvation is concerned; and that includes the observance of the Sabbath day. In summing up his thoughts on this topic to the Roman brethren, Paul states:
So while I have now given you a clear understanding regarding what the New Testament teaches concerning the relationship between New Covenant Christians and the Mosaic Law, it is up to you to decide what you want to believe; because as I am sure you must realize, we must each choose to live according to our own faith. If after reading this message, you still desire to observe the Sabbath, it is really up to you. Allow me to emphasize here that there is absolutely nothing wrong or evil about doing this; but it simply isn't necessary, and it certainly won't help to save you. Only Jesus saves. If you fully realize that you are only saved by God's Grace through Christ, and not by any ritualistic works of the Law, and if observing the Sabbath, or going to church on Sunday makes you feel like you are pleasing the Lord, then by all means do it; but just remember that:
God desires a continual, on-going relationship with you, and not just a once-a-week date at the local church building, where many people worship Him in name only. As for me and my house, we will follow Paul's advice to the Galatians when he writes:
I am free from the bondage of the Law through Christ; how about you? With these thoughts, I will bring this message to a close. I pray that it has been both instructive, as well as a blessing, in your life. 
 Send E-mail to Russ: webslave for Christ ( russ@jesuswept.com ) with questions or comments about this web site and it's content. Last modified: Thursday, December 05, 2002 |
