Sabbath
(under construction)
What is the sabbath in the new covenant?
Colossians 2:16-17
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Keeping a sabbath, or not keeping one, has divided Christian churches, and fake churches, for a long time. Here for once is the truth about the sabbath in various covenants, and what it is today.
Do the Eastern Orthodox recognise the sabbath day?
Google answer, quote:
"Yes, Eastern Orthodox Christians recognise Saturday as the biblical Sabbath (the day of rest after creation) and honour it liturgically, but they focus their main worship on Sunday, the Lord's Day (Day of Resurrection), viewing it as the new creation's fulfilment, without the strict Mosaic Law restrictions of Jewish Sabbath. Saturday is a day of rest and remembrance, marked by relaxed fasting rules and prayers for the departed, while Sunday is the primary day for the Divine Liturgy and celebrating Christ's resurrection,"
Catholics,
Google answer: quote:
"Yes, Catholics keep a holy day of rest and worship, but they observe Sunday (the Lord's Day), not the Saturday Sabbath, as a fulfilment of the commandment for rest, celebrating Jesus' Resurrection and the new creation in Him, rather than the Old Covenant's seventh-day Sabbath. The Church teaches that the essential principle of keeping a day holy for God is transferred from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week"
Constantine's Edict (321 CE): Emperor Constantine I made Sunday a civil day of rest,
Council of Laodicea (364 CE): This council decreed that Christians should not "Judaize" by resting on the Sabbath (Saturday) but should honour the Lord's Day (Sunday) instead, warning of exclusion from Christ for those who didn't.
It needs to be answered if the old sabbath day no longer exists in their "transfer" official church doctrine under the principle the old law is quote "done away".
Protestants, Evangelicals, Anabaptists:
Google quote:
"The practice of keeping a Sabbath day varies among Protestants, Evangelicals, and Anabaptists, with most observing the Lord's Day (Sunday) as a day of worship and rest, while some groups, such as Seventh-day Adventists and certain Anabaptist sects, continue to observe the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday)".
Seventh-day Adventists
Google quote:
Observe the biblical Sabbath on Saturday, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, as a holy day of rest, worship, and communion with God, rooted in creation and the Ten Commandments, viewing it as a distinctive sign of loyalty to God and a weekly reminder of His blessing and their redemption, differentiating from most Christians who worship on Sunday. They cease secular work and worldly pleasures, focusing instead on spiritual rejuvenation, family, nature, and God's creation, seeing it as a vital part of their faith and a sign for the end time.
However they turn all their arguments and reasons into a complete farce by saying the 666 mark is a sabbath issue, in an attempt to frighten people into sabbath keeping, almost as if spiritually trying so to speak to put people's arms up their backs to keep the old sabbath day. Similarly the so called Jehovah's Witnesses neither keep nor recognise Saturday or Sunday as holy days or sabbaths, but believe in a form of "plus works" salvation (contradicting the entire idea of Hebrews 4), deny the physical resurrection, deny the Holy Trinity, have dozens of other heresies, and therefore their emphasis of day to day spirituality is trashed by their own doing and sinful lives. The word "Yahweh" (Jehovah) is found nowhere in the new testament, always using the word Kurios, as the new covenant name of God is Father (see the Lord's prayer).
Judaizing.
One of the biggest problems of preaching a modern day Jewish sabbath day, is unstable and unlearned people from that point begin a slide on a slippery slope into apostasy into old covenant law. Next they start avoiding pork, bacon, prawns etc, next that avoidance becomes a law. They start thinking of keeping old defunct feast days. The next thing you know these weak souls, unskilled in the word, have slid into bondage under Hagar (Galatians 4) not the freedom of Sarah. Frighteningly I have seen Judaisers becoming total antichrists, and saying things like "The Jesus of Christians is the antichrist! As he is lawless!" choosing to totally ignore that there is a new law in the new and better covenant. The absurdity of stoning your own son to death if he is a drunkard and glutton, or being forced to marry your dead brother's wife, etc, does not seem to occur to them. Or "the seed of a bastard shall not enter into the house of the Lord for 10 generations." Witch burning etc. The mind boggles.
What is "the Lord's Day" ?
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet," Revelation 1:10. The verse itself seems to indicate that if you want the answer be "in the Spirit" part of which is to understand in the new covenant we have a new law, partly laid down in the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus himself, places like 1 Corinthians 7, and I believe especially by giving lists of sins when Jesus spoke of what comes out of your mouth defiling you, long lists of sins termed "the works of the flesh" in places like Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5, and lists of sins causing damnation, like Revelation 21:8. By emphasising this here I am indicating the choice I will make about this subject.
I want to say first the evidence is almost every person saying they are a Christian on the Planet has made the decision "The Lord's Day" refers to Sunday, the resurrection day. With our liberty described in Romans 16, a case can be made for encouraging regular fellowship by "keeping" Sunday, and one against it because of wolves in sheep's clothing using it to extract tithes (old law) and using it as a foot in the door to build a calendar lifestyle trap for the unwary.
"Jesus fulfilled the law" means He didn't abolish the Old Testament laws but brought them to their ultimate purpose by perfectly obeying them, revealing their deeper meaning, fulfilling prophecies about Himself, and becoming the perfect sacrifice, thereby establishing a New Covenant where grace through faith replaces the outward sign of invisible Faith being demonstrated by legalistic adherence, partly because the draconian old laws are now quote "done away". However at no point in history has man been justified by works.
The expression "the Lord's day" seems to have a strong inference that even though Roman's 16 says we are empowered not to keep days (or to keep them), that one day was special, and we need to ask "Is it the old Jewish time period of rest, or Sunday," that is Resurrection Day. I would say Resurrection Day of the two is sure (unless you can provide another contender), as it says clearly in Hebrews 4 the sabbath rest is day to day, and into eternity. Then we have to ask (if so) how Sunday became such a day, by direct institution by God, or an evolved tradition. The Catholics and Orthodox, and others who live the Calendar-ist Life Style would obviously want to demand this is evidence of a tradition, and Protestant would argue in this very verse God lays Sunday down as a special day that can or cannot be kept, but a significant day does not mean it is a sabbath, and one can strongly argue demanding to employers and the Government you will not work on Sunday for "spiritual reasons" rather than because it is a strict sabbath, would still maintain worker's rights not to be forced into a 7 day week. I hope you see the nuance of this means the sabbath was not moved onto Sunday.
One can also argue strongly that even if early Christians referred to Sunday the resurrection day as "the Lords Day" it is specifically not an inference to keep it as a day.
The Sin of the Seventy Elders.
The biggest heresy of the Pharisees was exposed in the gainsaying of Korah. The Pharisees made up the belief that they had the same powers to lay down laws as Moses (who did it direct from God). So the Pharisees laid down new laws ironically made up after being corrupted by the sins of the Babylonians in the Captivity in Babylon. The Orthodox and the Catholics have the same demonic heresy as the Pharisees, and have made up a plethora of "traditions of men" (see Matthew 23) with no divine authority. I say this because even if you argue Sunday became a special day, without direct institution by God, drifting into it would be the only reason, and the empowering of imposter priests and bishops with the imaginary powers of the gainsaying of Korah is impossible.
The truth about the sabbath.
At the core centre of misunderstanding the sabbath day is the belief that the 10 Commandments must be preserved, with some seeing no way to do it unless they keep the old time period "from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday" defined as "abstinence from work". In Numbers 15:32-36, It describes a man being stoned to death for gathering sticks on the Sabbath,
The truth observing or believing in the sabbath day had become almost like a false god to the 12 Tribes. God will not be usurped over by anything. Jesus said "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath" . My teaching is that this means not only "this asserts his divine authority, as the Creator, over the Sabbath law, demonstrating that He can define its purpose and prioritise human need (like healing) over rigid legalism" but that true rest is found in Jesus, and in the eternal consequences in the victory of the cross, his resurrection. Jesus became Lord of the sabbath day by replacing a day on Earth with an eternal sabbath day earned through his cross and resurrection, and a state of peace now by resting in the salvation of the finished work of Christ.
As Google states of Hebrews chapter 4:
"Hebrews 4 describes an eternal Sabbath rest for God's people, distinct from the weekly Saturday Sabbath, found through faith in Jesus Christ, not works, offering spiritual peace and salvation, and pointing to the ultimate heavenly rest. The passage contrasts Israel's disobedience, which barred them from the promised land (a type of rest), with the enduring promise of God's spiritual rest, urging believers to diligently enter it through Christ, resting from their own efforts and trusting His completed work for salvation".
As usual, secular Google does not get it quite right. Here is the nuance you must understand: At no point in history has man ever been saved by works, not even under Moses Law. It was just that the outward visible sign of Faith under Moses was keeping draconian, legalistic laws, from which Christians are rested, as new covenant law does not demand them, and a real in the Spirit Christian correctly discerning the word of God as meaning the righteousness of Christ imputed unto us, when he says "That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:20.
This example of Matthew 5:20 is yet another example of new covenant spiritualisation, the Passover is spiritualised as fulfilled in sincerity (as the gospel results in being born again) and the sabbath is an eternal day of rest, starting now and following on into eternity. At no point in history has man ever been saved by works, it is just that in the new covenant we get not just grace, but quote "grace upon grace". However God in the history of sabbath God is teaching us that a rest every week from physical work is good for you, it is that simple, don't let anyone push you too far into what the Japanese call "Karōshi", death by overwork. The spiritual sabbath keeper is the biggest sabbath keeper, as it is kept seven days a week, and into all eternity. The old law is quote "done away", some NT law is simply similar to OT law.
The Catholics and Orthodox both hate this interpretation of Hebrews 4, fulfilling the sabbath as an eternal day of rest earned by Christ in the gospel, and inner personal rest and peace in that Jesus saves, as it misses out acts of priestcraft by so called priests and personal works for salvation, thus they decide to either stick to the old sabbath day (Orthodox) or invent a new Sunday sabbath (Catholics).
So.... what about the 10 Commandments? If the old sabbath day is not still the same and a "commandment", or replaced by a Sunday Sabbath (resurrection Day) are the 10 commandments now 9? The centre piece of new testament law, are the 2 commandments. Nevertheless if what I say is true (and Google's defining of Hebrews 4 is true) is the meaning of "sabbath day" now modified, so there are still Ten Commandments, or are there only nine?
The Ten Commandments.
Either I will go to Hell forever for saying Jesus banned war, and you cannot divorce and remarry for adultery, or the Orthodox, Catholics (changed to non sacramental marriage) and most Protestants will. Get this clear - you cannot get serious subjects like "Adultery" and "Killing" wrong, it is heresy. Polygamy was banned by Jesus himself, and war was too. You may not see this if reading a false Alexandrian bible that omit huge numbers of pacifist verses. The Ten Commandments on killing and adultery are very different than under Moses. So here is a truth "The Ten Commandments have changed". So why does it shock you if in this superior covenant brought by God in the flesh, if Jesus is Lord over the draconian old Sabbath, by doing away with the idol of the sabbath as it had become to the Jews, and replacing it with an eternal sabbath earned by him in his death and resurrection, to be kept every single day by spiritually resting in salvation in Christ alone? Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt keep the sabbath, are all here now, but under different criteria, but are not the centrepiece of new covenant law, the Two Commandments are,
How sabbath issues can kill.
Both sides of the sabbath debate can argue getting it wrong can lead to death and suffering. If you block people from working on Friday evening and Saturday, you can cause people to lose, or not get the huge number of jobs that require this, even leading to eviction onto the street, even more terrible for a family with babies, toddlers and young teens. On the other hand you hear stories of nets being placed around buildings in the Far East, as workers throw themselves out of windows to try to kill themselves, being forced into a seven day week with very long hours each day. This can be used to try to elevate the incorrect doctrines on sabbath and heresy into a "work of the flesh".
IS SABBATH ERROR A HERESY OR ERROR?
There is a difference between heresy and making an error in doctrine, depending of the seriousness of the subject. Is it heresy to get the timing of the Rapture wrong? Is the subject of women wearing make-up really heresy? Or the subject of eating black-pudding? Not all errors are heresy. As we heard in the last paragraph getting it wrong, one way or another, can even lead to deaths. Were I think it is very unlikely unrepentant sinners who transgress "the works of the flesh" like adulterers and murderers, thieves and kidnappers, will receive mercy from God on the day of judgement, I still retain a lot of hope people may get mercy from God who guessed the time of the Rapture incorrectly, or understood the time to take a rest. Everything is important, as Jesus made clear when he said "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." Matt 5:19. But I would steer clear of making an outright statement people who get the sabbath wrong will certainly go to Hell.
notes
exceeds the righteousness - I am not like other men
Killing people with the wrong sabbath - losing jobs and dying of starvation or exposure to cold
As Keith Green sings in his song: When I hear the praises start:
The 10 Commandments have definitely changed
(Catholic apostasy into "non sacramental marriage)
a day of rest is not a "works of the flesh" issue
passover and spiritualisation
lesson to be learned from initiating sabbath (man needs resT - connected to rom 16
Freedom in Christ
Romans 16
The slow slide into Judaism
History and 8 covenants
debates on sabbath did not mean keeping the Jewish sabbath
Catholic new sabbath fuels sacramentalism
"forever" characterises
born again by an act of priestcraft
OVER "a declaration by Jesus found in the Gospels (Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5) that asserts His divine authority, as the Creator, over the Sabbath law, demonstrating that He can define its purpose and prioritize human need (like healing) over rigid legalism, proclaiming that true rest is found in Him, not just ritual observance. "
(this page is under construction)
wiki links for further study:
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath