In Part 1 we looked at the original purpose of the Sabbath, seeing that Israel was commanded to keep it for a specific purpose. Now let’s take a look at how we are meant to understand the Sabbath today. We’ll look at several reasons why Christians aren’t required to keep it, then in Part 3 we’ll look at how the temporary Sabbath has always been pointing towards our eternal Jesus Christ.
Why we don’t keep the Sabbath
Over the years, not keeping the Sabbath has been labeled as a perversion of God’s word. It’s often accused of resulting from either Catholic tradition or an ancient order from Emperor Constantine, who wanted to overwrite pagan worship days with Christian days. However, we can put away our conspiracy theories and be assured through God’s word that the Sabbath isn’t a requirement for Christ’s followers.
No longer under the law
Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all. But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless basic forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? You are observing religious days and months and seasons and years. (Galatians 4:8-10)
The Galatian church was an interesting group. When Paul first visited Galatia, he preached the gospel to a city filled with pagans. The Holy Spirit opened their eyes and showed them the truth of Christ, and Paul left them with clear teachings about their freedom through Christ. At some point, Jewish followers came in and insisted that these Christians also had to follow the Jewish law, including circumcision and observing the holy days. Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians to combat the false teaching that was growing within the church.
That context is important to Galatians 4:8-10 because Paul makes a fascinating comparison. He references how the Galatians once followed gods which couldn’t possibly save them. Then Paul accuses them of returning to false gods and their promise of salvation. Yet Paul isn’t condemning them for turning back to the Roman pantheon, but because they’re requiring many of the old Jewish laws, including observing the Sabbath (religious days in verse 10). Paul is very clear: being bound by the law of Moses has nothing to do with following Christ, just as obeying the laws and rituals of pagan religions can do nothing to bring us closer to God.
Christ died to set us free from the law (Galatians 3:13), including our requirements to keep it. We live in freedom, but out of love for Christ we desire to act like Him, hating sin and loving righteousness. Yet our righteousness isn’t found in what we do, but in the natural result of pursuing our savior. God doesn’t care about our actions, including what laws we keep. He cares about why we do what we do, and that’s why the law could never save us.
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
Sabbath was made for us
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. For this reason the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)
Christ is the creator and sustainer of all things (Colossians 1:16-17). Because He created all things, including the law, He has power and authority over them. It is Christ who sets the rules, and it’s Christ who establishes hierarchies. So when Christ clarifies how humans and the Sabbath intersect, we see a clear hierarchy that clearly frees us from a mandatory Sabbath.
We weren’t made for the Sabbath. Despite God declaring it holy from the beginning, He never made it to be over us. Instead, as we discussed in Part 1, God made the Sabbath for us. He established it because He knew we need a day of rest. It was never meant to have authority over us any more than we could possibly have authority over Christ.
In other words, for God to demand that we maintain the Sabbath would mean that it has authority over us. Yet by creating this clear hierarchy of the Sabbath have no power over us, there is no amount of righteousness tied to it. We can keep a form of the Sabbath, and indeed it’s wise to have a day of rest, but Christ is very clear that we are under no strict requirement to keep a law that was temporarily required for Israel.
The 9 Commandments
If you love me, you will obey my commandments. (John 14:15)
Israel had a lot of commandments placed on them over the years, all as a way to point to their complete inability to save themselves while pointing forward to the perfect savior. Christ freed us from the requirements of keeping the law, yet also says that we will naturally desire to keep His commandments out of love for Him. Christ said these words just hours before He was sacrificed on the cross, and it’s important to understand what commandments He had in mind.
It’s popular to point out that out of all the 10 commandments, only 9 were emphasized by Christ. The only one missing is the same one that Christ clarified in our previous point: the Sabbath is never once reinforced by Christ, let alone even hinted at as still binding. Yet what He says about His commandments goes so far beyond what God gave to Moses. Consider the various commands Christ gives throughout His life:
- Abide in me (John 15:4)
- Feed my sheep (John 21:15-17)
- Believe in me (John 14:1)
- Serve God (Matthew 6:24)
On and on, we see Christ gives commands like this, all with the main desire for us to love, trust, and serve. We love Christ because He first loved us, and it’s through that love that we can do the impossible. Christ doesn’t enable us to do a better job of obeying the law of Moses, but instead enables us to love and pursue Him.
Christ wants us to keep His commands, and many of the 10 Commandments are part of His will for His people because they accurately reflect His character. Yet when we understand God’s will for His people, for us to absolutely desire Him above all else, it becomes even more clear why He never commands us to keep any laws, including the Sabbath.
The New Testament church’s example
On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul began to speak to the people, and because he intended to leave the next day, he extended his message until midnight. (Acts 20:7)
On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside some income and save it to the extent that God has blessed you, so that a collection will not have to be made when I come. (1 Corinthians 16:2)
Although not explicitly commanded, it’s clear that the New Testament church set aside Sunday, the first day of the week, as their time of meeting together. Not that they did this as part of the Sabbath, but this was clearly their time of gathering together. Yet as we see glimpses into the church, the Sabbath is never required or even suggested but is instead mentioned when Christians try to impose Jewish days (Romans 14:5, Colossians 2:16-17)
An argument is often made that many apostles did keep many of the feasts, at least for a time. Christ is even used as an example of keeping all the laws. Yet we must remember that Christ didn’t abolish the law, but lived it out fully so that we could be freed from the demand of following it. In other words, people aren’t to be judged for not keeping feasts and Sabbaths, nor are they to be judged if they choose to. The apostles were likely convinced to keep many of the festivals they’d always known, yet were very clear in not mandating them.
Too often this conversation is pulled to the extremes. Either people are condemend for not keeping certain laws, or people are condemned because they keep them. And that’s precisely what Colossains 2:16 is warning us against! Whatever Mosaic laws and customs people choose to keep, it must be done for the sake of honoring God and not in an attempt to earn righteousness or avoid wrath. The law has no power, either to condemn us nor redeem us. There is freedom in Christ, and that freedom allows us to honor God in any area we are convicted to do so.
How do we view the Sabbath today?
There is so much more that could be said about how we should understand the law in light of Christ’s redemptive mercy. When we consider the Sabbath, there are a few things we must remember:
- It was a covenant sign regarding the law of Moses, meant strictly for Israel until a new covenant was established.
- We are freed from the requirements of the law. Although there are still aspects we keep because things like honesty and faithfulness are reflections of His character, and therefore will naturally flow in the life of someone pursuing Christ.
- Some apostles still observed parts of their heritage and upbringing, yet were very explicit that it’s not a requirement. Part of freedom is being able to choose harmless things. We are no more required to keep holy days than we are forbidden from keeping them. In the end, our primary goal is to glorify God.
In short, Christians don’t keep the Sabbath for the same reason they don’t observe many other aspects of the Mosaic law.
He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14)
Yet the Sabbath is still incredibly relevant to us today. Instead of being a day of rest, we see the Sabbath reflected in the one who is our eternal rest of works and the requirements of the law. In Part 3, we’ll look at the wonderful savior the Sabbath has always been pointing to.
Want to read more? Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
