Find peace in Jesus

The Ten Commandments says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall work and do all your works. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work there, neither your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who lives in your city. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it” (Exodus 2:20,8-11). Is it necessary to keep the Sabbath to receive salvation? Or: “Is it necessary to keep Sunday? My answer is: "Your salvation does not depend on a day, but on a person, namely Jesus"!

I was recently on the phone with a friend in the United States. He has joined "The Restored Church of God". This church teaches the restoration of the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong. He asked me, “Do you keep the Sabbath”? I answered him: “The Sabbath is no longer necessary for salvation in the new covenant”!

I heard this statement for the first time twenty years ago and did not really understand the meaning of the sentence because I was still living under the law. To help you understand what it's like to live under the law, I'll tell you a personal story.

When I was a child, I asked my mother: “What do you want for Mother's Day?” “I am happy when you are a dear child,” I received as an answer! Who or what is a dear child? “If you do what I tell you.” My conclusion was, “If I defy my mother, I'm a bad child.

In the wcg I learned God's principle. I am a dear child when I do what God says. He says: "You shall keep the Sabbath day holy, then you will be blessed"! No problem, I thought, I understand the principle! As a young person I was looking for support. Sticking to the Sabbath gave me stability and security. In that way, I seemed to be a dear child. Today I ask myself the question: “Do I need this security? Is it necessary for my salvation? My salvation depends entirely on Jesus!”

What is necessary for salvation?

After God created the entire universe in six days, He rested on the seventh day. Adam and Eve lived in this peace for a short time. Her fall brought them under a curse, for in the future Adam would eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, and bore Eve children with hardship until they die.

Later, God made a covenant with the people of Israel. This covenant required works. They had to keep the laws in order to be righteous, blessed and not cursed. In the old covenant, the people of Israel had to perform religious works of righteousness. For six days, week after week. Only one day of the week they were allowed to rest, on the Sabbath day. This day was a reflection of grace. A taste of the new federal government.

When Jesus came to earth, He was living under this Law covenant, as it is written: "Now when the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, and made under the law" (Galatians 4,4).

The six days of the work of creation are a symbol of the law of God. It is perfect and beautiful. It testifies to God's flawlessness and divine justice. It has such a high value that only God, through Jesus Himself, could fulfill.

Jesus fulfilled the law for you by doing whatever was necessary. He kept all the laws in your place. He hung on the cross and was punished for your sins. As soon as the price was paid, Jesus said, "It is finished"! Then he bowed his head to rest and died.

Put all your trust in Jesus and you will be at rest forever because you have been made righteous before God through Jesus Christ. You don't have to struggle for your salvation because the price of your guilt is paid. Complete! “For whoever has entered into his rest also rests from his works as God did from his. So let us strive now to enter into that rest, lest any stumble as in this example of disobedience (unbelief)” (Hebrews 4,10-11 NGÜ).

When they enter the rest of God's righteousness, they should put off their own works righteousness. Only one work is expected of you now: "Enter into the stillness"! I repeat, you can only do this by believing in Jesus. How would you fall and become disobedient? By wanting to work out their own justice. This is unbelief.

If you are tormented by feelings of not being good enough or unworthy, this is a sign that you are not yet living in the repose of Jesus. It's not about asking for forgiveness and giving God all sorts of promises. It is about your firm faith in Jesus, who brings you to rest! You were forgiven all guilt by Jesus' sacrifice because you professed it before him. That is why you are washed clean before God, perfect, holy and just. It is up to you to thank Jesus for that.

The new covenant is the sabbath rest!

The Galatians believed that they had received access to God through grace. They thought that it was important to obey God and keep the commandments according to the Scriptures. Clear commandments concerning circumcision, holidays and sabbath days, commandments of the old covenant.

The Galatians held the heresy that Christians must keep both the old and the new covenant. They said "merit by obedience and grace" is necessary. They mistakenly believed this.

We read that Jesus lived under the law. When Jesus died, he stopped living under that law. Christ's death ended the old covenant, the law covenant. “For Christ is the end of the law” (Romans 10,4). Let's read what Paul said to the Galatians: “But actually I have nothing more to do with the law; I died to the law by the judgment of the law, to live for God henceforth; I am crucified with Christ. I live, but not I, but Christ lives in me. For what I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me" (Galatians 2,19-20 NGÜ).

By the judgment of the law you died with Jesus and no longer live in the old covenant. They were crucified with Jesus and rose to new life. Now rest with Jesus in the new covenant. God works with you and He holds you accountable because He does everything through you. As a result, you live in Jesus' rest. The work is done by Jesus! Their work in the new covenant is to believe this: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6,29).

The new life in Jesus

What is the peace in the new covenant in Jesus? Do not you have to do anything anymore? Can you do and leave as you want? Yes, you can do as you please! You can choose Sunday and rest. They may or may not keep the Sabbath day holy. Her behavior does not affect his love for you. Jesus loves you with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.

God accepted me with all the dirt from my sins. How should I respond? Should I wallow in the mud like a pig? Paul asks, "How now? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Far be it" (Romans 6,15)! The answer is clearly no, never! In the new life one in Christ, I live in the law of love, just as God lives in the law of love.

“Let us love, for he first loved us. If anyone says: I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love his brother whom he sees cannot love God whom he does not see. And we have this commandment from him, that whoever loves God should also love his brother" (1. John 4,19-21).

They have experienced God's mercy. They received God's forgiveness of guilt and are reconciled to God through Jesus' atoning sacrifice. You are an adopted child of God and heir of his kingdom. For this Jesus paid with his blood and you can do nothing, because everything is done, which is necessary for your salvation. Fulfill the law of love in Christ by letting Jesus shine through you. Let the love of Christ flow to your fellow human beings as Jesus loves you.

When someone asks me today, "Do you keep the Sabbath?" I answer, "Jesus is my Sabbath!" He is my rest. I have my salvation in Jesus. You too can find your salvation in Jesus!

by Pablo Nauer