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The Sabbath and the Christian

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen

There are Christians who feel obligated to "keep the Sabbath", so they go to church and worship on Sunday. Some rigidly avoid unnecessary activity, and even shun things like sporting events and other pursuits that they consider "worldly". There are several problems with this approach. First, it is not scriptural, and more of a cultural belief. Second, the Sabbath was not changed to Sunday, it was established for the seventh day. Third and most important, Christians are not required to keep the Sabbath at all. Don't be disunderstanding me now, I'm not saying it's wrong to be church going. What I am saying is that we're not under the Law, the Mosaic Covenant.


No Sabbath required Christian church
Credit: Pixabay / tpsdave
The Sabbath has its origin in Gen. 2:3, where he rested on and sanctified the seventh day. God was the only Sabbath keeper at first. In Ex. 16:29-30, the day of solemn rest was established for Israel. See that? It was for Israel, not a universal command for all people for all time. After the Sabbath was set forth in the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:8-11), additional instructions were given in the Pentateuch. If you study on it a spell, you'll see that there is no command to worship on the seventh day. The Jews used their day off for that purpose. 

Those who insist that we keep the Sabbath forget that it is impossible to do so! There had to be a sacrifice by the priests to begin it. Also, Scripture makes it clear that we are to obey the Law in its entirety, not just Sabbath keeping, or accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection by faith, because Christ is our Sabbath (Heb. 4:8-10)! Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant, and we have the New Covenant.

We can worship on Saturday or Sunday (the Lord's Day, the day of his resurrection and the day that the disciples met together), or any day we choose; there is no "Christian Sabbath". However, we must not judge each other. Some Jewish Christians worship on Saturday, not to keep the Law, but as a witness to other Jews. I know of a church that rents space in a school and had meeting times on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.

I've been mighty free with a prairie-schooner full of bits and pieces of information, but I want to give you a couple of messages to hear. There's a bit of overlap, but each speaker gives some useful insights from his series from which each of these is drawn.

Each is free to hear online or download the MP3.

First, Pastor Chris Rosebrough's message, "How Christians Observe the Sabbath". There are also several links if you cotton to doing additional reading on the subject. Next, a no-frills page from Dr. Albert Mohler, simply entitled "Exodus 20:1-11 (Part 2)". If you want the lead-in, helpful but not required, here is Exodus 20:1-11 (Part 1). I hope you're listen to these, and possibly save this post as a resource. You may want to share it with people who are getting confused by the Hebrew Roots cults, Seventh-Day Adventists, and others.