Are Christians Obligated to Observe the Seventh-day Sabbath Today?
Key verse(s)/quote(s):
“One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.” - Romans 14:5-6
“Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” - Mark 2:27
“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” - Colossians 2:16-17
Historical background:
The origins of Seventh-day Adventism can be traced back to the “Great Second Advent Awakening” which took place in the middle of the 19th century. It was a time where the religious climate had reached a heightened focus and sensitivity around the matter of Jesus’ Second Advent was at its pinnacle. At this time, many Bible scholars were primarily studying Daniel and Revelation and deducing prophetical interpretations as to the timing of Jesus’ return. Jesus’ return was calculated to be at a mark of 2,300 years based on Daniel’s 2,300 evenings (Daniel 8:13) and as such many had expected Jesus to return in 1843. One such individual was William Miller (Baptist Minister from 1782-1849): “I was thus brought in 1818, at the close of my two-year study of the Scriptures, to the solemn conclusion that in about twenty-five years from that time all the affairs of our present state would be wound up.”1 Additionally, evidence of this faulty conviction (Matthew 24:36, Matthew 25:13) can be gleaned from his statement: “I believe the time can be known by all who desire to understand and to be ready for his coming. And I am fully convinced that some time between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844 according to the Jewish method of computation of time, Christ will come and bring all his saints with him; and that then he will reward every man as his work shall be.”2
Unfortunately, this attempt at date setting should not have even been made in light of several of the above passages but most explicitly in Jesus’ rebuke “’It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.’” (Acts 1:7). It should be noted that following the failed prophecy, William Miller declared regret as he confessed his error and honestly exhorted believers to be ready for the time to come in the near future. Unfortunately, Miller later reluctantly endorsed the “Seventh-month Movement” that predicted Christ would come on October 22, 1844 and of course this was another failed prophecy resulting in the failure of the Millerite movement.
This failure (“Great Disappointment of 1844”) served as a catalyst to what eventually sprang forth several other groups. Three of these groups came together bringing distinct doctrinal stances to form the foundation of the current Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) movement.
Prior to providing a brief overview of the primary doctrines supported by the three factions that formed the SDA church, it should be made clear that William Miller “was never a Seventh-day Adventist, and stated that he had “no confidence” in the “new theories” that emerged from the shambles of the Millerite movement.”3. One can read several statements from William Miller himself, that clearly reveal his condemnation of these groups and the unique doctrines of the SDAs (e.g. Seventh-day Sabbath, soul sleep, utter destruction of the wicked)4.
Founders:
Each of the below leaders presented varying doctrines that became the distinct elements forming the foundation of the modern SDA church (side note: the SDA name was inaugurated in 1860):
- Hiram Edson (and O.R.L. Crosier) - doctrine of the sanctuary (begets The Investigative Judgment): This solved for Miller’s error by presenting that Christ did indeed come but not to earth rather moved into Heaven. This doctrine states that Christ is performing the second phase of His ministry in Heaven where He is assessing believers to determine where they end up in eternity. This is based on a misapplication of Old Testament ceremonial concepts and the book of Hebrews.
- Joseph Bates - observance of the Sabbath: Bates presented the view in 1846 that Revelation spoke of a 3-part series of works. The first two of which were fulfilled by the preaching of the Millerites and the calling out of the SDAs in 1844-1848. It was to these 2 marks in history that the obedience to the holy commandments inclusive of the Seventh-day Sabbath (the seal) were added.
- Ellen G. Harmon* - Spirit of prophecy: Several visions were claimed that aligned with various SDA doctrine and teachings. The restoration of this gift (1 Corinthians 12:10, Revelation 19:10) was seen as a counsel for the SDAs. It is interesting to note that the modern SDAs have softened their view of Ellen G. White as merely being “guided by the Spirit” and whose words are now subject to the authority of the Bible.
* later Ms. Harmon would marry and have her surname changed to the more commonly known Ellen G. White.
In the future, I will be posting more in-depth on the SDA church and each of its doctrines inclusive of the Sabbath. At present, below are some high-level points to provide the rationale for the Christian view of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath:
Some quick facts (not exhaustive) on the Sabbath are provided below:
- Only revealed as part of the Mosaic covenant (e.g. Moses’ time) not since the onset of creation as the SDAs would suggest (Exodus 16:23-26, Deuteronomy 5:2-3, Nehemiah 9:13-14).
- First introduced as physical rest and not spiritual in nature (Exodus 16). Later the spiritual act of worship was added. Sabbath was made for man and not the other way around (Mark 2:22-27).
- The progression of physical to spiritual meaning (point 2 above) illustrates progress between Moses and the later prophets’ time but not between Adam and Moses (when the SDA’s believe the Sabbath existed).
- 9 out of the 10 Commandments are repeated and enforced in the New Testament, missing is the fourth commandment to observe the Sabbath.
- Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:28-29) ruled that while Gentiles should observe certain rules the command to keep the Sabbath is not mentioned.
- Jesus is the Sabbath. As with law in Scripture, it serves to magnify Christ. The Lord is the Sabbath and the rest is mere shadow (Colossians 2:16-17)
- As Dr. Robert A. Morey states Sabbatarianism “tries to stop the unfolding dynamic of the eschatological character of the Sabbath. It attempts to turn back the hands of the clock of redemptive history by keeping the shadow, and ignoring the reality which cast the shadow.”
- Lastly, let us be clear that the Christian view is not that the worship day is Sunday but that worship can occur on any day and that we are not bound to observe the Seventh-day Sabbath. Regardless of what the Catholic church would like to falsely attest to as far as changing worship to a Sunday, it is irrelevant because of the aforementioned stance that Sunday is not a holy day - any day can be given to the Lord (Romans 14:4-6). Additionally, the Christian view on the law (as SDA’s seem to wonder how sin can exist without transgression of the law and thus assume the law means the Sabbath or that Christians are law breakers because we do not observe the Seventh-day Sabbath) is clearly that we are under the Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2, Romans 8:2 to 1 Corinthians 9:20-21).
Beyond these set of summarized facts, I shall let the debate speak for itself when it comes to the answer of the question - Are Christians Obligated to Observe the Seventh-day Sabbath Today?
On a side note, we have extended an open invitation to continue this educational dialogue in a series of debates and are hopeful that Angelo or another representative of the SDA church will oblige – Rev. Tony Costa has already expressed his interest. The future topics for debate we have proposed are: “Was Ellen G. White a prophet of God?”, “Are Ellen G. White’s teachings on ‘The Investigative Judgment’ and ‘the Scapegoat’ Biblical?”. Please stay tuned as future debates will be posted on the Events Calendar on the home page and sent via Tweet (if you sign up by clicking “Follow Me” to the right).
The Debate:
Below is a video of a debate held on January 9, 2010 on the topic of “Are Christians Obligated to Observe the Seventh-day Sabbath Today?” between Angelo Austria (SDA) and Rev. Tony Costa (Reformed Baptist). I had the pleasure of co-moderating the debate and as such can attest to the intensity of the emotions felt in the room. We had approximately 400 people in attendance (estimated 80% SDA) that represented people from varying ages and ethnic backgrounds. The York University Morningstar Fellowship opened the event as they had graciously arranged the venue booking. Please note that although this fellowship presents itself as “inter-denominational” they are clearly teaching Seventh-day Adventist teachings and as such I personally warn against joining this group (click here for several reasons why, courtesy of CARM).
Additionally, in order to clearly outline the equity in the debate structure and moderation we had signed a contract that attested to the format of the event (inclusive of the various sections of the debate) and time allotments for the evening (copies below). Unfortunately, we had one individual attempt to express his personal views by interrupting the evening (I shall refrain from mentioning his name). This was not captured in the recording as the videographer had not started recording the Q&A section at the time of the comments. For those of you who attended the evening of the debate, I would like to make clear (as we received many comments deriding his behaviour), the individual in question is a leading member of the SDA fellowship (Morningstar) at York University and clearly not a member of any group that represented the Reformed Baptist side. I’m sure this may have been made obvious by his desire to interject with his personal commentary (against Rev. Tony Costa’s points) prior to the Q&A session but nevertheless I do apologize (as a moderator of the debate) for the interruption and agree with the many comments received that it was ill-timed in the least. Moving on, for further assurance of equity throughout the debate, we had established 2 timekeepers; one from each side to ensure that time was given equally to both parties.
Lastly, I would like to personally thank each debater as they conducted themselves with class and grace. Although the tension was palpable they kept focused on the task at hand and kept in tune with the amicable nature needed for such a dialogue. In keeping with this gracious nature, both presenters have agreed to allow me to post each of their presentations used in the opening statements (see below). They are also included in the video below.
Suggested Reading(s): B = Basic, M = Moderate, A = Academic
- The Kingdom of the Cults, Walter Martin. October 2003. (M)
- Encyclopaedia of Christianity, Dr. Robert A. Morey. 2003 (B)
- The Truth about the Seventh-day Adventist Church (http://www.nonsda.org) (B)
TiS Media:
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Reformed Baptist - Rev. Tony Costa
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Seventh-day Adventist - Angelo Austria
- Francis D. Nichol, The Midnight Cry (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1944, 35 [↩]
- William Miller, Signs of the Times (January 25, 1843). [↩]
- The Kingdom of the Cults, Walter Martin. October 2003. Pg. 541 [↩]
- “Miller was outspokenly opposed to the various new theories that had developed following October 22, 1844, in an endeavour to explain the disappointment. He deplored the call that had been given to come out to the churches, and he never accepted the distinctive positions of the Sabbatarians. The doctrine of the unconscious sleep of the dead and the final destruction of the wicked was not, he maintained, part of the original Millerite position, but was introduced personally by George Storrs and Charles Fitch. He even came to deny the application of the parable in The Midnight Cry to the Seventh-month Movement and eventually went so far as to declare unequivocally that the move was not “a fulfillment of prophecy in any sense” – The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers (828−29 [↩]
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Please remove me from your mailing list. Your arguments are flawed and one-sided.
Present your case and allow people to make their own decisions.
Hi Charles,
Thank you for visiting Theology in Sneakers. I assure you that you are not on any unsolicited mailing list. As a courtesy, one of my fellow debate moderators would have sent out a single e-mail to all those who attended the debate and/or indicated they would like to receive an e-mail when we post the debate video online.
As for your comments on my arguments being flawed and one-sided, I would humbly request that you address the specific points as discussed at the debate and articulated on my post. Additionally, I do feel I have presented a case and also would like to submit that by definition an argument would almost always be one sided - so I do admit that I have presented a one-sided argument. I also agree with your suggestion that people can make their own decisions and I hope they do as that is the intent of presenting the evidence and hosting the debate.
Thanks again for visiting.
@Charles McKenzie
I don’t see how the arguments presented herein are “flawed and one-sided.” Would you mind showing where these alleged flaws are?
Oh, and since we’re on the topic of the seventh day sabbath, there are at least three different passages in the New Testament where Jesus’ disciples are shown meeting together on the first day of the week, rather than the seventh. If anyone wants to look them up, they’re John 20:19, Acts 20:7 and 1Corinthians 16:2.
I see the link to carm is still up. Haven’t reviews the emails I sent yet?
@Fisher, if you read those texts in context you’ll see they’re not really first day worship services. Acts 20 is a Saturday night “goodbye party” for Paul, as he was leaving the next day, and 1 Cor 16 was instruction to gather/harvest donations for relief aid. John 20 was the day Jesus was resurrected, the context clearly shows they were in hiding.
Not yet Glenn. I have been extremely busy as of late. I did forward your notes and believe CARM has begun dialoguing with you directly. I intend to review all comments and respond accordingly. Thanks for your comments as I look forward to all people contributing and dialoguing on the site.
Glenn:
In Acts 20:7, it is mentioned that they are “breaking bread.” Does your church break bread on the first day of the week?
Also, 1 Corinthians 16 presupposes the believers gathering together on that day of the week, as it sounds a lot like the kind of thing you’d do in the offering during the worship services. Do Sabbatarians take collections on Sundays?
Furthermore, John 20 still supports my point, as the apostles are gathered together on that particular day of the week, which Sabbatarians allege to be a non-Christian practice. Also, it is good that you pointed out that this is on the Resurrection day. When we worship on Sunday, we celebrate the risen Christ. What better way of doing that than to gather together on the day He has risen?
Finally, while I have documented three different instances of Christians meeting together on the first day of the week, I have yet to encounter any biblical evidence of them setting aside the seventh day as *the* day of worship. While gathering on Saturday to worship is all right in and of itself (cf. Romans 14:5-6), to proclaim 7th day sabbath-keeping as a central tenet of the Christian faith is to fall into the heresy of Judaizing.
Fisher,
This should answer most of your objections:
http://emmilglenn.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/sabbath-or-sunday-examples-in-the-nt/
It also links to other posts where I address issues like “breaking bread” 1 Cor. 16, Romans 14, etc.
@Glenn
It is a fact that the 1st century Christians who were of Jewish descent continued to observe the Jewish sabbath. HOWEVER, they did this *in addition* to their Sunday worship, and the Gentile Christians were *never* required to observe the Saturday Sabbath.
Church historian Philip Schaff’s section on the Lord’s Day from the first volume of “History of the Christian Church” has some really good points to make on this subject. Check it out here:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc1.i.IX.57.html
Fisher,
From the lack of direct response to the the points I made on the texts (Acts 20, 1 Cor 16) you presented, I’m assuming you agree with my interpretation, and we can move on to most recent point you make. (If I’m mistaken, you can respond directly via email or my blog, as it’ll be the quickest way to get to me.)
So to reply to your claim that Jews worshiped on Sunday “in addition” to the Sabbath”; I have to respectfully disagree as it is nothing but conjecture, here’s why:
1. No Biblical support for that claim.
2. No historical support.
I’m linking chapter 6 from “From Sabbath to Sunday”, by Samuele Bacchiocchi, church historian:
http://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/from-sabbath-to-sunday/rome-and-origin-of-sunday.html
According to Bacchiocchi, there is little or no evidence that Jew’s worshiped on Sunday (See first paragraph of chapter), and that it was a number of factors (a discriminatory tax on Jews, derision of the Sabbath by Romans, a desire to distance themselves from Jews) which caused a gradual shift by Gentile Christians in Rome that brought about the change to Sunday worship.
Thanks for your comments Glenn and Fisher. It is great to see you both dialoguing. In the interest of other TiS visitors, I request that you keep that dialogue going by posting more comments so other readers can see how this progresses vs. diverting the dialogue to other sites.
Additionally, Glenn may I suggest a reading of D. A. Carson’s “From Sabbath to Lord’s Day” as it is a scholarly response to Bacchiocchi who is a SDA scholar. Most of Bacchiocchi’s arguments are exposed as weak and unfounded. I haven’t thoroughly reviewed this site yet but it does highlight some of the arguments made - http://www.bible.ca/7-Bacchiocchi.htm.
Thanks,
- Sumair
Hey Sumair,
The reason I link is that it’s better than copy/pasting.
Bacchiocchi wrote a follow up book, Sabbath Under Crossfire, which addresses some of their objections. You should check it out.
I think you should review bible.ca first. Steve Rudd (bible.ca) is known for weak and unfounded arguments. His website has faulty quotes and reasoning. (had: may have changed/removed due to responses from others like the links below):
http://www.pickle-publishing.com/papers/sunday-fraud.htm
(Lists some of the misquotes bible.ca and other websites use)
“2. No historical support.”
I guess you didn’t notice the link to History of the Christian Church which I linked to.
Also, this topic doesn’t really interest me that much. I do respond when it is brought up every now and then, but it’s not as high a priority for me compared to answering Atheists, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.
Glenn,
I suggested the Bible.ca site specifically to allow visitors a glimpse into some of the valid points made by D. A. Carson’s “From Sabbath to Lord’s Day”. I would suggest people read this book and then carry forward with their views and once again address the specifics of the points made by Tony during the debate and myself in the article above.
As for Fisher’s comment, I take a similar view on addressing this issue as my evidence and view supports a view that an SDA member along with anyone else can choose to worship on any day they wish. The centrality of the Sabbath day isn’t paramount - the focus shall remain on Christ Himself. I do thank you for the links as they contribute to the presentation of views and opinions and I think is a service to visitors of the site so they can read the opinions, understand the views, and ultimately make an informed decision based on the evidences presented.
Stay in touch and I look forward to co-hosting a future debate with you.
- Sumair
I just looked at the link Fisher provided.
Here are 2 problems I find.
Sumair you say that we are free to worship on any day of the week, but the article Fisher provides says the Sabbath was transferred to Sunday. What view do you agree with?
“2. The Lord’s Day took the place of the Jewish Sabbath as the weekly day of public worship. The substance remained, the form was changed. The institution of a periodical weekly day of rest for the body and the soul is rooted in our physical and moral nature, and is as old as man, dating, like marriage, from paradise.….
…The day was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week, not on the ground of a particular command, but by the free spirit of the gospel and by the power of certain great facts which he at the foundation of the Christian church.”
As seen above, none of these changes were instituted by God, but by men.
“The universal and uncontradicted Sunday observance in the second century can only be explained by the fact that it had its roots in apostolic practice.”
The author then lists the same texts as support which I’ve expanded upon in my blog. (John 20:19, 26; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10)
I would hardly call that conclusive evidence for such apostolic practices. As we can see, his premise is flawed.
Glenn,
The view that I have stated I shared with Fisher was in relation to the level of importance of debating this topic and since I have consistently presented a view, as did Tony during the debate, that Jesus is the Sabbath - that is the foundation I remain built upon. He is our rest and thus debating a fixed holy day to worship is not the stance taken and the burden of proof need be held by the SDA church. As I’ve stated previously, I think it is healthy to debate and discuss but we must focus on points made in my post above or Tony during the debate in order to constructively progress. If we stray in discussing views that have clearly previously been stated (e.g. I’ve heard a few times that apparently I believe Sunday is the holy day to worship or that Catholics changed the worship day to Sunday, etc.) it only serves to hinder the progress of the discussion. My views are laid out above and Tony spoke to them eloquently in the debate. Angelo did a solid job as well and I encourage people to view the debate and read the Scriptures for themselves.
If you remain confident in your view, as I mentioned several times, I suggest we arrange to hold another public debate as I believe the debate clearly laid out the evidence and gave the opportunity for views to be presented from both positions while both parties were able to be questioned. Perhaps you or a pastor at an SDA church you are affiliated with would like to be part of a debate since Angelo is busy these days?
Additionally, as mentioned earlier Tony is also open to debating on the following topics and we can structure the debate as before to allow ample time for cross examination and rebuttals:
1) Was Ellen G. White a prophet of God? or Did Ellen G. White have the spirit of prophecy?
2) Is the Investigative Judgment Biblical?
God Bless,
- Sumair
Let’s stay on topic then.
So you disagree with Fisher’s premise that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday? I’m guessing that Fisher goes to another church than yourself, or you just have conflicting viewpoints?
You’ve brought up Carson’s Sabbath to Lord’s Day. So do you guys agree with his main points. If I remember correctly, Tony maintain in the debate that Colossians 2 talks about the Seventh-day Sabbath of the Decalogue. Do you agree with this position? Because I believe Carson has differing views than Tony and yourself.
Please also show me in the Bible where I can find that Jesus is our Sabbath Rest, thus releasing us from our duty to keep his commandments.
“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-Christ, that denies the Father and the Son.
And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” I John 2.22 & .28
“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Rm 1.16−17
“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe unto the saving of the soul.” Heb 10.38
Every false cult has this common and fatal flaw: salvation through works, not faith in the efficiency and sufficiency of Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross.
The default mode of fallen man is to hate and avoid repentance and reliance on Christ as the only way to the Father. Therefore, to avoid repenting and retain control of their own destiny through the works of their own hands, the cultists make up bizarre and intricate methodology that serves this purpose.
They prop up their lies with asceticism and pride appealing doctrines.
At my work is a SDA and a Jehovah’s Witness cult member. They both are working their rears off trying to earn their salvation. The one hopes he doesn’t get “disfellowshipped” and the other is hoping to pass the I J. Utterly futile and wickedly prideful in motivation.
“Jesus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.” Rm 10.4
This is my go to verse for workaholic cultists.
Quit yourselves like men, fellow believers, and fight the good fight of faith; as good soldiers for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to the Glory of God the Father.
Glenn,
To address your inquiry about Fisher and I, we do not know each other except for the blessing that he found my site and I have enjoyed his comments and reading his blog as well - in short we do not go to the same church. As for my view, as I’ve shared in several conversations previously, the day of the week is not important since the Sabbath is the shadow of the substance which is Jesus and the question is about obligation under the New Covenant.
I am concerned with the idea of putting the Lord Jesus down so one can glorify the shadow of the Sabbath. Jesus is our Sabbath rest in Matthew 11:28-30. This is made clear in the fact that immediately following this statement in Matthew 12:1-14 Jesus clashes with the Pharisees over the Sabbath where Jesus shows that He trumps the Sabbath and that He is Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus implies His superiority over the Sabbath further by saying He is greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6), if the priests can break the Sabbath by working on it (Matthew 12:5), so can He because He is greater than all of them. Therefore, the law ultimately points to Him, magnifies Him, and finds its fulfillment in Him. Hebrews 3:7-4:11 implies that Jesus is the One who is the rest of God because Christ is the centerpiece of Hebrews and it agrees with Matthew 11:28-30. For further details on this thought process, please do review Tony’s presentation and the debate as the passages are referenced and discussed with opportunity given to Angelo to refute.
I am unsure about what you are referencing with regards to Carson and Colossians 2:16. This passage is clearly about dietary laws, the Jewish annual feast, the new moons, and the weekly Sabbath. As for the reference to releasing us from keeping His commandments, I once again suggest reviewing the presentation and video above. The Law of Christ was presented (remember law doesn’t mean Sabbath day of the week) and below are some sites that provide more details with regards to this.
http://www.essentialchristianity.com/pages.asp?pageid=20617
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.poyner/lawofmoses.htm
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.poyner/sunday_or_sabbath.htm
(Note: I would disagree with Fruchtenbaum on his interpretation of “Lord’s day” in Revelation 1:10. The majority of scholars and standard lexicons see this term as a reference to Sunday. A great scholarly book on this topic is D.A. Carson, ed., From Sabbath to Lord’s Day (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982).)
In summation, the question pertains to the SDAs perceived obligation of the Christian to retain a Sabbath on a certain day of the week. I recognize the SDA view that Sabbath obedience is a “fruit of salvation” and not a required work and still find it interesting that it is often stated one who is saved would follow this law of Sabbath keeping. I appreciate your passion and energy put into this topic but I do go back to Fisher’s view that the relative importance of this matter should be correctly weighed. For all the time spent defending this one view cherished by the SDAs by stating it must be the law and adhered to and the Sabbath is a day of the week named Saturday and then presenting this against a view that the Sabbath is Christ and the worship day can be any day causes me to wonder where the priority and superiority is understood - a day of the week or Christ?
Thanks again for your patience as I take time to reply given all that is going on in my schedule. I must assess that balance given all the other questions submitted on my site and ministries I serve in. So thank you for your patience as I may be taking longer to respond to any further comments on this post given the evidence has been laid out above and an invitation for a second debate to expound your views has been extended. Please know I appreciate your passion and commitment and highly respect it but in accordance with God’s call for wisdom to be used in service I must make decisions on where to focus.
Thanks for your understanding,
- Sumair
Okay, there are so many things I would like to say and I know it’s pretty late but I like this discussion, so here I go.
First I Belong to the Church of God and I Keep the Sabbath. To Fisher’s first post, I disagree. Those texts you presented all refer to gathering of the disciples for various reasons, except for keeping the Sabbath. The first was an assembling together “for fear of the Jews” not the Sabbath. The second was a fellowship, (like services being held during the week) manual labour could’ve been done, whereas manual labour is not allowed on the Sabbath, it is a day of rest from all labour, Therefore it was not the Sabbath. The third, the apostle Paul chooses a day for everyone to gather their goods for distribution to other churches; again this is not a Sabbath day of rest. However, Jesus Kept the Sabbath even though he is ‘Lord of the Sabbath’ (it does not change the fact that it is a holy and separate day for rest, worship and good will only and established by Jesus when he created the earth; Luke 4:16;Gen 2:1-3).
Glenn said in John 20:19, it was the resurrection, I also disagree with this. If you believe Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week (Sunday), it means you also believe he was crucified and buried on the sixth day (Friday). All I’m going to say is to read Matthew 12:39, 40. There is no way you or I for that matter, can get three days and three nights of Jesus being in the heart of the earth/grave/tomb, from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Studies need to be done on this topic.
Back to the Sabbath, it is said “the only commandment (the Sabbath) that says to remember, everyone chooses to forget. The Sabbath was created in the beginning and that is why the fourth commandment says, ‘Remember’ ‘remember.‘
Deut 4:13 -The Ten Commandments are separate from the ‘book of Moses’ and special and everlasting, existing from the beginning of the world (including the 4th command). The ‘book of Moses’ contained ceremonies and sacrifices that were shadows, until Christ fulfilled them. In the Millennium reign with Christ, everyone who worships God will keep the Sabbath, Jeremiah 66:22-23.
The Sabbath is not a shadow of things to come it is an everlasting covenant for all mankind not the Jews only. Jesus had to stop the Pharisees from going on to establish their own righteousness and to show how hypocrite they were in trying to prevent him from healing on the Sabbath, when they would help their animal, if it was found in a ditch on the same Sabbath. In other words don’t tell him how to keep the Sabbath; he knows how to keep it, he created it, he is the Lord of the Sabbath.
Thanks for Reading.
I love this blog
Much better than the last blog I read on debate!