Sabbath Rest: Sabbath & the Bible:Frequently Asked Questions

Launch Statements | Other Biblical Topics | Contact Area | Search

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SABBATH

Lord, I have been thinking about the Sabbath. Some people keep it; some say it isn't important. Should I be concerned about it?

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every one be fully persuaded in his own mind”(Romans 14:5).

Then tell me about the Sabbath. Is every day alike or do You have a special day of rest for your followers?

“I was in the Spirit on THE LORD’S DAY” (Revelation 1:10).

But which day is the Lord's day? Which day should be esteemed above the others?

“The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day” (Matthew 12:8).

There are seven days in the week. Which day is the Sabbath day?

“The SEVENTH DAY is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work” (Fourth Commandment - Exodus 20:10).

Which day, according to our reckoning, is the seventh day - Saturday or Sunday?

“And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, ..very early in the morning the first day of the week,.. came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun ... And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man... And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen” (Mark 16:1-6). (Note: Everybody knows that Sunday was the resurrection day. The Sabbath was past when it dawned. Thus it is evident that the Sabbath is Saturday, the day before Sunday.)

Do You mean, Lord, that the seventh day, Saturday, is a special day of rest above all the other days of the week?

“God BLESSED the seventh day, and SANCTIFIED it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:3).

How do You expect us to keep this day you have blessed and sanctified?

“Remember the Sabbath day, to KEEP IT HOLY-Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work”(Fourth Commandment: Exodus 20:8-1 0).

But, Lord, didn't You abolish the Law which contains the Sabbath Commandment?

“Do not suppose that I have come to do away with the law or the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to enforce them” (Matthew 5:17, Goodspeed.)

Doesn't faith set aside the Law?

“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” (Romans3:31).

But aren't we saved by grace?

“By grace are ye saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8).

Then why should we any longer observe the Law?

“Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1,2).

I know Christians should not sin, but what does that have to do with the Law and the Sabbath?

“Sin is the transgression of the law.” (I John 3:4). “Sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Romans 5:13).

Which law do You mean, Lord? Which law reveals sin?

“I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt riot covet” (Romans 7:7) Note: the Law which reveals sin is the Ten Commandment Law.

Do You mean, Lord, that it would be a sin not to observe the seventh-day Sabbath as the Fourth Commandment teaches?

“To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

But, Lord, didn't You change one of the Commandments so that today we Christians may keep another day than the seventh without sinning?

“I tell you, as long as heaven and earth endure, not one dotting of an ‘i’ or crossing of a ‘t’ will be dropped from the law until it is all observed” (Matthew 5:18, Goodspeed).

Then, is Sabbath keeping a work of grace?

“The Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath ... Many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God” (Acts 13:42-44).

But isn't it sufficient that I love the Lord and live by the law of love?

If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Does that mean all ten of them?

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

But isn't the keeping of the Commandments a grievous yoke of bondage?

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (I John 5:3).

Yes, Lord, of course I love You and it will be a pleasure to keep the Commandments; but I always had the idea that the Sabbath was made only for the Jews.

“The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). (The Sabbath was made and given to man hundreds of years before the existence of a Jew).

If I could know for sure that Saturday is the Christian Sabbath, I would keep it. Did You leave an example in Sabbath keeping for us to follow?

“And 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 for to read” (Luke 4:16).

But, Lord, that was over 1,900 years ago. Wouldn't You keep some other day than Saturday if You should come to earth today?

“I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Someone told me that after Your crucifixion, Lord, Your followers no longer kept the seventh-day Sabbath according to the Commandment. Is this true?

“And that day was the preparation, (when Christ was crucified) and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT” (Luke 23:54-56).

But didn't the Apostle Paul always meet with the early Christians on Sunday in honor of the resurrection? What was His manner in regard to a day of worship?

“And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures” (Acts 17:2).

Did he meet with the Gentile converts on the Sabbath, too? Perhaps he met with the Jews on the Sabbath and the Greeks on Sunday. What about that?

“And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks” (Acts 18:4).

What did Paul teach in regard to Sabbath keeping?

“There remaineth therefore a rest (keeping of Sabbath, margin) to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9,10).

Is this, then, the instruction in regard to Sabbath keeping?

“For I have not shunned to declare unto you ALL THE COUNSEL OF GOD” (Acts 20:27). (If God had intended His people to observe Sunday in the place of the seventh day, Paul or one of the apostles surely would have told us so. In the New Testament there are no less than 59 references to the Sabbath. The book of Acts records 84 Sabbaths on which the Apostle Paul and his associates held religious services. Yet there is not one word in the entire Bible authorizing Sunday keeping. The observance of the seventh day is taught repeatedly and emphatically as a work of grace whereby the Christian shows his respect and love for God. He does not try to earn salvation by keeping the Commandments, but he keeps because they are right).

Lord, does my salvation depend upon my obedience to this Sabbath injunction?

“And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9).

Then, by Thy grace, I will do what is right! I will obey the Commandments and keep the Sabbath as You desire.

“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14).