The Christian Sabbath
The Christian Sabbath is life in Jesus Christ, in which every believer finds true rest. The weekly seventh-day Sabbath commanded to Israel in the Ten Commandments was a shadow, pointing as a sign to the true reality of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.Hebräer 4,3.8-10; Matthäus 11,28-30; 2. Mose 20,8-11; Kolosser 2,16-17)
Celebrate salvation in Christ
Worship is our response to the gracious acts that God has done for us. For the people of Israel, the Exodus, the experience of moving out of Egypt, was at the center of worship - what God had done for them. For Christians, the gospel is the focus of worship - which God has done for all believers. In Christian worship we celebrate and share in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation and redemption of all human beings.
The form of worship given to Israel was specifically for them. God had given the Israelites an adoration pattern through Moses that enabled the people of Israel to celebrate and thank God for all that God had done for them when he led them out of Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land.
Christian worship does not require rules based on Israel's Old Testament experiences with God, but rather responds to the Gospel. Similarly, we can say that the "new wine" of the Gospel must be poured into "new wineskins." (Mt 9,17)The “old wineskin” of the Old Covenant was not suited to receive the new wine of the Gospel. (Hebr 12,18-24).
New forms
The Israelite service was destined for Israel. He lasted until the coming of Christ. Since then, God's people have expressed their worship in a new form, responding to the new content - the transcendent New that God has done in Jesus Christ. Christian worship is focused on the repetition and participation in the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The most important components are:
- Celebration of the Lord's Supper, also called Eucharist (or Thanksgiving) and Communion, as we were commanded by Christ.
- Scripture: We review and look at the accounts of God's love and His promises, especially the promise of the Redeemer Jesus Christ, which feeds us on the Word of God.
- Prayers and songs: In faith we make our prayers to God, humbly repent of our sins and honor and praise Him in joyful, thankful worship.
Targeted to content
The Christian worship is primarily focused on content and meaning and not on formal or temporal criteria. Therefore, Christian worship is not bound to a specific day of the week or season. The Christians are not required to have a specific day or season. But Christians can choose special seasons to celebrate important stages in the life and work of Jesus.
Likewise, Christians “reserve” one day a week for their common worship: They gather together as the body of Christ to glorify God. Most Christians choose Sunday for their worship, others Saturday, and still a few gather at other times—Wednesday evening, for example.
Typical of Seventh-day Adventist teaching is the view that Christians commit a sin by choosing Sunday as a regular gathering day for their worship. But there is no support for that in the Bible.
Important events took place on Sunday It may surprise many Seventh-day Adventists, but the Gospels expressly report important events that took place on Sunday. We will go into more detail on this: Christians are not required to attend their service on Sunday, but there is no reason not to choose Sunday for the worship meeting.
The Gospel of John reports that the disciples of Jesus gathered on the first Sunday after Jesus' crucifixion and that Jesus appeared to them. (Joh 20,1)All four Gospels agree that Jesus' resurrection from the dead was discovered early Sunday morning. (Mt 28,1; Mk 16,2; Lk 24,1; Joh 20,1).
All four evangelists considered it important to mention that these events took place at a certain time, namely on Sunday. They could have foregone such a detail, but they did not. The Gospels indicate that Jesus revealed Himself as the Risen Messiah on Sunday - first in the morning, then at noon, and last in the evening. The evangelists, in view of these Sunday apparitions of the risen Jesus, were by no means troubled or frightened; they wanted to make it clear that all this took place on the said [first] weekday.
The way to Emmaus
Anyone who still doubts on which day the resurrection took place should read the unambiguous account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus had predicted that he would rise from the dead "on the third day" (Lk 9,22; 18,33; 24,7).
Luke clearly states that Sunday—the day the women discovered Jesus' empty tomb—was indeed "the third day." He explicitly points out that the women confirmed Jesus' resurrection on Sunday morning. (Lk 24,1-6)that the disciples “on the same day” (Lk 24,13)...went to Emmaus and that it was "the third day" (Lk 24,21)That was the day on which Jesus, according to his own statement, was to rise from the dead. (Lk 24,7).
Let us recall some important facts that the evangelists tell us about the first Sunday after the crucifixion of Jesus:
- Jesus was raised from the dead (Lk 24,1-8. 13. 21).
- Jesus was recognized when he “broke the bread” (Lk 24,30-31. 34-35).
- The disciples met and Jesus came to them (Lk 24,15. 36; Joh 20,119). John reports that the disciples also gathered on the second Sunday after the crucifixion and that Jesus again stood “among them”. (Joh 20,26).
In the early church
Like Luke in the Apostelgeschichte 20,7 As reported, Paul preached to the church members in Troas, who were gathered on Sunday, to "break bread." 1. Korinther 16,2 Paul urged the church in Corinth, as he had already done with the churches in Galatia (16:1), to set aside a donation every Sunday for the starving church in Jerusalem.
Paul doesn't say the congregation had to meet on Sundays. But his exhortation suggests that Sunday gatherings were not unusual. He gives the reason for the weekly offering as "so that the collection doesn't only happen when I come." (1Kor 16,2)If the church members had not given their donations every week at a meeting, but had instead set the money aside at home, a collection would still have been necessary when the Apostle Paul arrived.
These passages read so naturally that we realize that it was not at all uncommon for Christians to meet on Sunday, nor was it uncommon for them to "break bread" (an expression Paul used with the sacrament) at their Sunday meetings connects; see 1Kor 10,16-17).
Thus, we see that the inspired New Testament evangelists deliberately want us to know that Jesus rose on Sunday. They also had no qualms if at least some of the faithful gathered on Sunday to break bread. The Christians have not been explicitly told to come together for a Sunday worship service, but as these examples show, there is no reason to be scrupulous about this.
Possible pitfalls
As stated above, there are even good reasons for Christians to come together on Sunday as the Body of Christ to celebrate their fellowship with God. Therefore, do Christians have to choose Sunday as the day of assembly? No. The Christian faith is not based on certain days, but on the belief in God and his son Jesus Christ.
It would be wrong to just replace one group of prescribed holidays with another. The Christian faith and worship are not about prescribed days, but about recognizing and loving God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When deciding which day to gather with other believers for worship, we should make our decision with proper reasoning. Jesus' command “Take, eat; This is my body” and “Drink from it all” are not tied to a specific day. Nevertheless, since the beginnings of the early Church, it has been a tradition for Gentile Christians to gather in the fellowship of Christ on Sunday because Sunday was the day on which Jesus revealed Himself as risen from the dead.
The Sabbath commandment and with it the entire Mosaic law ended with Jesus' death and resurrection. To cling to it or to try to reapply it in the form of a Sunday Sabbath means weakening God's revelation about Jesus Christ, which is the fulfillment of all his promises.
The idea that God requires Christians to observe the Sabbath, or oblige them to obey the law of Moses, means that we Christians do not fully experience the joy that God wants us to convey in Christ. God wants us to trust in His redemptive work and to find in Him alone our rest and comfort. Our salvation and our lives are at His mercy.
Confusion
We occasionally receive a letter in which the writer expresses his or her dissatisfaction that we are challenging the view that the weekly Sabbath is God's holy day for Christians. They declare that they will obey "God more than men" no matter what anyone tells them.
The effort to do what one considers God's will must be acknowledged; What is more misleading is what God really needs from us. The strong conviction of the Sabbatarians that obedience to God signifies the sanctification of the weekly Sabbath makes it clear what confusion and error the Sabbatharians have done among thoughtless Christians.
First, the Sabbath doctrine proclaims an unbiblical understanding of what it means to obey God, and second, it elevates this understanding of obedience to the criteria for determining the validity of Christian faithfulness. The result is that a confrontational way of thinking - "us against the others" - has developed, an understanding of God that causes divisions in the body of Christ because one thinks one has to obey a commandment that according to New Testament teaching is invalid.
Faithful observance of the weekly Sabbath is not a question of obedience to God, because God does not require Christians to keep the weekly Sabbath. God tells us to love him, and our love for God is not determined by observing the weekly Sabbath. It is determined by our faith in Jesus Christ and our love for our fellow human beings (1Joh 3,21-24; 4:19-21). According to the Bible, there is a new covenant and a new law (Hebr 7,12; 8,13; 9,15).
It is wrong for Christian teachers to use the weekly Sabbath as a yardstick for the validity of Christian faith. The doctrine that the Sabbath commandment is binding upon Christians burdens the Christian conscience with destructive lawfulness, darkens the truth and power of the gospel, and causes divisions in the body of Christ.
Divine calm
The Bible says that God expects people to believe the gospel and love him.Joh 6,40; 1Joh 3,21-24; 4:21; 5:2). The greatest joy that can befall people is that they recognize and love their Lord. (Joh 17,3), and this love is not defined or promoted by adhering to a specific day of the week.
The Christian life is a life of security in the joy of the Redeemer, of divine peace, a life in which every aspect of life is dedicated to God and every activity is an act of devotion. Establishing the observance of the Sabbath as a defining element of “true” Christianity causes one to miss much of the joy and power of the truth that Christ has come and that God in him has made a new covenant with all who believe the Good News (Mt 26,28; Hebrew
9,15), erected (Röm 1,16; 1Joh 5,1).
The weekly Sabbath was a shadow – a hint – of the reality that was yet to come. (Kol 2,16-17)To maintain this notion as forever necessary is to deny the truth that this reality is already present and available. One deprives oneself of the ability to experience unadulterated joy in what is truly important.
It's just like following his engagement ad and enjoying it after the wedding has long since taken place. Rather, it is high time to turn the priority attention to the partner and let the betrothal as a pleasant memory in the background.
Place and time are no longer central to worship for God's people. True worship, Jesus said, takes place in spirit and in truth. (Joh 4,21-26)The heart belongs to the spirit. Jesus is the truth.
When Jesus was asked, “What must we do to do the works of God?”, he answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (Joh 6,28-29)Therefore, Christian worship is primarily about Jesus Christ – about his identity as the eternal Son of God and about his work as Lord, Redeemer and Teacher.
God more pleasing?
Those who believe that observance of the Sabbath commandment is the criterion that determines our redemption or condemnation at the Last Judgment misunderstand both sin and the grace of God. If Sabbath saints are the only people to be saved, then the Sabbath is the measure by which it is judged, not the Son of God, who died and rose from the dead for our salvation.
Sabbatarians think that God is more pleased with the one who sanctifies the Sabbath than with the one who does not sanctify him. But this argument does not come from the Bible. The Bible teaches that the Sabbath commandment as well as the entire law of Moses in Jesus Christ has been lifted and elevated to a higher level.
Therefore, keeping the Sabbath is not a "greater good pleasure" to God. The Sabbath was not given to Christians. The destructive element in Sabbatarian theology is its insistence that Sabbatarians are the only true and believing Christians, which means that the blood of Jesus is not sufficient for man's salvation unless Sabbath observance is added.
The Bible contradicts such an erroneous doctrine in many significant passages: We are saved by the grace of God, solely through faith in the blood of Christ and without works of any kind (Eph 2,8-10; Röm 3,21-22; 4,4-8; 2Tim 1,9; Tit 3,4-8These clear statements, that Christ alone and not the law is decisive for our salvation, clearly contradict the Sabbath doctrine that people who do not keep the Sabbath holy cannot experience salvation.
God Wanted?
The average Sabbatarian is of the opinion that he is more godly than someone who does not keep the Sabbath. Let's look at the following statements from earlier WKG publications:
"Yet only those who continue to obey God's command to keep the Sabbath will ultimately enter into the glorious 'rest' of the kingdom of God and receive the gift of eternal spiritual life" (Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course, Lesson 27 of 58, 1964, 1967) .
"Whoever does not keep the Sabbath will not bear the 'mark' of the divine Sabbath by which God's people are marked, and consequently will NOT be BORN OF GOD when Christ comes again!" (ibid., 12).
As these quotes indicate, Sabbathing was not only considered as God-given, but also believed that no one would be saved without the sanctification of the Sabbath.
The following quote from Seventh-day Adventist literature:
“In the context of this eschatological conflict, Sunday worship ultimately becomes a distinguishing mark, a sign of the beast. Satan has elevated Sunday to the symbol of his power, while the Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty to God. This conflict will divide Christendom into two camps and determine the conflict-ridden end times for God’s people” (Don Neufeld, Seventh Day Adventist Encyclopedia, 2nd Revision, Vol. 3). This quote illustrates the Seventh-day Adventist view that Sabbath observance is the deciding factor in who truly believes in God and who does not—a concept that stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, a concept that fosters an attitude of spiritual superiority.
Summary: Key takeaways about intuitive eating
Sabbatarian theology is at odds with the grace of God in Jesus Christ and the clear message of the Bible. The Law of Moses, including the Sabbath commandment, was for the people of Israel and not for the Christian church. Although Christians should feel free to worship God every day of the week, we must not make the mistake of believing that there is any biblical reason to prefer Saturday as a gathering day to any other day.
We can summarize all this as follows:
- It is contrary to the biblical teaching that the Sabbath on the seventh day is binding on Christians.
- It is contrary to the biblical teaching to say that God has greater pleasure in people who sanctify the Sabbath than in those who do not, be it Seventh-day or Sunday-Sabbath.
- It is contrary to the biblical teaching to assert that a given day, as a day of assembly, is more sacred to the church or more godly than another.
- There is a central gospel event that happened on a Sunday, and that is the basis for the Christian tradition of gathering for worship on that day.
- The resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came as one of us to redeem us, is the foundation of our faith. Therefore, Sunday worship is a reflection of our faith in the gospel. However, communal worship on Sunday is not required, nor does worship on Sunday make Christians more holy or more loved by God than the congregation on any other day of the week.
- The doctrine that the Sabbath is binding on Christians therefore causes spiritual harm because such teachings are contrary to Scripture and endanger the unity and love in the body of Christ.
- It is spiritually harmful to believe and teach that Christians should gather on either Saturday or Sunday, because such a doctrine establishes the day of worship as a legal hurdle that must be skipped to be redeemed.
One last thought
As followers of Jesus, we should learn not to condemn each other in the decisions we make in harmony with our conscience before God. And we have to be honest with ourselves about the reasons behind our decisions. The Lord Jesus Christ has brought believers into his divine peace, in peace with him in the full grace of God. May all of us, as Jesus commanded, grow in love for one another.
Mike Feazell
