What Freedom Did You Find Breaking the Sabbath?
There is only one way to say: if the validity of Sabbath keeping is removed, all other nine commandments are also no more. There is no more transgression of the law. There is no sin anymore. Christians can violate the other nine commandments. Why is Sunday-keeping considered more free than Sabbath keeping?
—VIA EMAIL
Response: Adventists are not taught the biblical covenants. The Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic covenant which was temporary: it had a beginning and an ending (Galatians 3:17–19). The new covenant has a new law: the Law of Christ (see 1 Cor 9:20). The different laws can have similar moral requirements, but they are not the same laws nor do they apply to the same people. For example, the laws of Great Britain contain many of the same laws that the laws of the USA contain: prohibitions against burglary, murder, treason, and so forth. Yet the laws of Great Britain do not govern me, a citizen of the USA, nor do they apply to me. If I commit treason, the laws of Britain have no authority over me. They cannot condemn me nor demand punishment. Only the laws of the USA apply to me.
Similarly, God authored the Mosaic Law of which the Ten were the very words of the covenant (Ex. 34:27, 28). He also authored the New Covenant and the law of Christ under which Christians live. There are differences and similarities between these laws. The New Testament never commands the keeping of the Sabbath, nor is it listed in ay New Testament lists of sins. Yet it is central to the Old Testament and to the Ten Commandments. With Jesus’ inauguration of the new covenant in His blood—which fulfilled ALL the shadows of the old covenant and its law—the sign of the mosaic covenant became obsolete because Jesus embodied all the rest and righteousness the Sabbath foreshadowed. Now we are commanded to believe in His completed atonement in order to find Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4:1–9). Yet Christians are commanded in the New Testament to comply with even greater moral demands than the law demanded: in addition to not murdering, not committing adultery, etc., we are commanded not even to have hateful or lustful THOUGHTS. We are commanded not to have greed, to practice gluttony or coarse jesting. We are held not only to the standard of the law but to the standard of God’s personal righteousness. Of course, no one can attain to that perfection in this life, but when we trust Christ, all of His personal righteousness is credited to us (Phil. 3:9; 2 Cor. 5:21).
ALL of the Ten Commandments are obsolete for Christians because we have a new law—a much higher standard of righteousness. Yet we have a far superior sacrifice: Jesus’ blood has fully paid for ALL our sin, past, present, and future. Now we learn, after we have trusted His completed atonement, to depend on Him to give us wisdom and guidance as we navigate life. We do not live by a law; we live by the Spirit of God who indwells us now (read 2 Corinthians 3). Now every command of the New Testament applies to believers.
Response to “Remember Jesus Instead of Sabbath“
That’s hilarious because Jesus Himself said…”If you love me, keep my commandments.” Adventists talk about much more than the Sabbath with those who have common sense and an ability to comprehend what they read. The Fourth Commandment was, is, and will eternally be the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), God’s Holy Day. Why would God tell us to “REMEMBER” it just to do away with it? Then, why would He turn right back around to keep it again for eternity in the new heaven and earth? Isaiah 66:22-23 clearly reads…(22) ”For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. (23) ”And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, AND FROM ONE SABBATH TO ANOTHER, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord”. This isn’t just my opinion, brothers and sisters. It’s the absolute word of God. Stop listening to this woman’s nonsense. Read it for yourselves.
—VIA YOUTUBE
Response: Did God tell YOU to “Remember the Sabbath”? Who was His audience? What was the context? What New Testament passage repeats the command for the church to keep the Sabbath? You can’t take one of God’s commands and apply it to everyone, everywhere, forever. You have to know context. What did Jesus say the work of God is now that He has come? John 6:29: “Believe in the One whom He sent.” What “remember” command did Jesus give His new creation, the church? He told the church to eat and drink the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him whenever they gathered. The Lord’s Supper is the new “remember” for the church. There is no other command for the church to do anything in remembrance. There is no new covenant command to “remember the Sabbath” or to keep the Sabbath nor is there a warning about breaking the Sabbath in the lists of New Testament sins. CONTEXT, please. The covenant is different now. The sign of remembrance is different. This new covenant is based on better promises—Jesus’ blood, not on animal sacrifices and an imperfect priesthood. The law and the sign and the covenant are different now. Jesus is Who we remember.
As for Isaiah 66—again, CONTEXT. When God says “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain,” He is speaking to the nation of Israel. He is not speaking to humanity in general here, nor is He speaking to the church. He is telling Israel that their existence—regardless of His discipline over the years—is as certain as the heavens. Even more, He is promising them that in the future kingdom, all flesh will come and worship before Him at His throne “FROM one Sabbath to another”. Those prepositions “from”and “to”define a span of time. He is not saying they will come every sabbath but that all flesh will come every day of the week! If I say that I will be gone FROM Sunday TO the next Saturday, I will be gone every day of the week. The prepositions tell us the time frame when all flesh will come and worship. It will be continual. Also, you can’t overlook the new moon component. If, as Adventists say, the new moons are now obsolete, the Sabbaths must also be obsolete. Sabbaths were determined by the new moons; the weeks and months were measured by the new moons. We can’t divorce Sabbath from the new moon. Again, we can’t yank “Sabbath”out of context in Isaiah 66. This is a prophecy to Israel, not to the world in general—and it is a promise that the Lord will reign over His kingdom on earth, and all flesh will come to Him continually and worship. †
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I think you do a good job responding to these comments.