Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:11 NKJV

This is one of the great controversial questions in today’s Christian world. Do we keep the sabbath? If so, how? On one side, the answer is clear. “Jesus fulfilled the law, so we no longer need to keep the sabbath.” On the other side, “Jesus fulfilled the law, but He did not do away with it. Keeping the Sabbath is still a requirement.” And so they meet to worship every Saturday, instead of-as is tradition among Evangelical Christians-every Sunday. And some circles within this group go so far as to teach that worshiping on Sunday instead of Saturday will become the mark of the beast, and all who do so while the antichrist is in power are dooming themselves to hell and separation from God for all eternity.

With teaching such as this, it is essential that we discover the truth of what God’s word actually commands. We must develop within ourselves the confidence and conviction to know that we are obeying God in everything, so we can stand unwavering against all false teachings, but even more so that we can stand boldly in the righteousness of Christ and appear holy and blameless before the throne of God on the final day.

In this post we will discover what the Sabbath actually is and what it looks like to apply it as a new covenant Christian. Though it may seem unlikely, discovering the true answer to this perplexing question will reveal a deeper understanding of the gospel and how Christians should walk it out as they trust in Christ. The message of the gospel is more than Jesus’ blood atoning for our sins. That is the key element; do not misunderstand. But the way it is applied to our lives is something many Christians have misunderstood, or do understand but fail to walk out, and so give rise to questions such as the one we are looking at.

The Message of the Gospel

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.

Galatians 2:20-21 NKJV

The typical verse to put here is John 3:16, which gives us the basic and fundamental truth of the Gospel. Jesus died so we do not have to. If we instead trust in Christ and ask for forgiveness, we will be cleansed of all sin. While John 3:16 shows us the way to eternal life after death, Galatians 2:20-21 shows us how to achieve God’s perfect life on the earth while we still have breath. When Jesus came to the earth, His work consisted of two elements: First, He lived a perfect life, fully obeying every detail of the 613 commands written in the Law of Moses. Second, He took our sin and sacrificed Himself. In order to fully walk out the message of the gospel, we must have both of those elements in our own lives.

Now the fact remains that we are imperfect human beings, finding ourselves in a state where it is impossible to obey God. In Romans:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…

Romans 5:12 NKJV

Because Adam disobeyed God, sin entered the world. We are born in a sinful state deserving of the righteous judgement of God even before committing a single act of disobedience. There is nothing any of us can do to justify ourselves. Not only is it impossible for a fallen human to perfectly obey God’s law, but our very nature is sinful at the time of birth, causing separation between us and God from the beginning.

This is where the beauty of the Gospel comes in. This is where Christ, the knight in shining armor as it were, rescues the damsel in distress from destruction. Again in Romans:

Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgement came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life, for as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:18-19 NKJV

Not only did Jesus die to pay the penalty of our sin, but He also lived in our place. Romans 5:19 emphasizes that it was through the obedience of Christ that we are made righteous. His perfect life justifies our life, and His death and resurrection redeems us, bringing about salvation. If we repent of our sin and trust in Him, Both His life and His death will be atributed to us. Thus we see that the two elements of the gospel will be credited to our accounts by faith. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

The Sabbath

So how does all this tie into the Sabbath? If you refer to the opening of this post, the Sabbath is a command from God which is part of the law of Moses. This is the same law that Jesus kept in our place. In order to fully embrace the meaning of having received the free gift of righteousness and salvation, one must understand that this line of reasoning we are exploring can and must be followed for every one of the 613 commands. We are dealing specifically with the sabbath because it is perhaps the most conspicuous, as the original 10 commandments are the most well known of the law, and so it appears that one of God’s commands need no longer be followed. This could not be further from the truth. For Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

Even though God still requires perfect obedience to be accepted by Him, one thing did change. Through the death of Christ, God instituted a new covenant with His people. While the old covenant required strict adherence to God’s law, along with animal sacrifices to cover sins, the new covenant requires faith and trust in the work of Christ, that He did it for us in our place. With this new understanding comes a sense of liberty. No longer do we have to keep the law ourselves, we simply trust in Jesus. The law is still being kept on our account, but Jesus is the one doing it instead of us.

With this in mind let us look at a passage that is relevant to the sabbath but does not specifically mention it.

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in is own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks, and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks, For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

Romans 14:6-8 NKJV

The point Paul is getting at in these verses is that everything we do must be done in faith. Anything done in faith is pleasing to God, and anything not done that has been chosen in faith not to be done, is pleasing to God. Because the law has already been kept for us, we are now free, so long as what we do is done in faith.

Now what did Jesus say about the Sabbath? In this next passage we find that Jesus has given his disciples permission to pick heads of wheat and eat them on the Sabbath, which according to their tradition was in violation of it, for God had said, “In it you shall not do any work.” His response here is to the religious leaders of the day, who witnessed it and were appalled.

But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:25-27 NKJV

The Sabbath is a time of rest. It is a time set aside to remember God. Under the old covenant, it was a day specifically set aside where no work was done and no distractions were allowed. Sadly, the old testament Israelites got so caught up in the carrying out of the Sabbath that they turned even that into work. They made work out of setting aside work, instituting all manner of extra laws and rules that God did not command, and the reason for the Sabbath was forgotten. In fact, they did the same with the entire law, and the reason behind the law was forgotten. God had come down out of heaven and chosen this people to be His own, and they were so carried away with keeping the law that they missed the point. The law was instituted because God desired relationship with men, only they had to be acceptable in His sight for this to happen. Sin, uncovered by sacrifice, irreparably separated men from God. Through the obedience of Jesus, He was able to get to the heart of the matter, literally. Observe how he addresses the ten commandments.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement…You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart…Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except for sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”

Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32 NKJV

Jesus is making it clear that the issues of the heart are the real issues. The law was in place so that God would be able to be in the presence of man without having to execute judgement. Now that Jesus has kept the law on our account, God can get to the heart, which was His goal all along. So therefore under the new covenant the requirement of God toward us transferred from keeping outward rules and regulations, to a transforming of the heart inwardly. The same rule applies to all 613 commandments, all of the original 10, and even more specifically, the fourth commandment dealing with the Sabbath. The Sabbath, being originally a day of rest where we remember God, has transferred under the new covenant to a heart position of rest as we receive the free gift of God and recognize ourselves as having been made righteous in the sight of God. Not because of anything we have done, but because of the saving power of the blood of Jesus. Therefore we are still required to keep the Sabbath, in that we are required to rest in the work of Christ and refrain from trying to please God in our own strength. This understanding of the Sabbath is missing from many of today’s church circles. Many do not realize that not only is the free gift offered, but once accepted, we are commanded to rest in it, so much so that it is nearly impossible to progress in one’s walk with God for as long as one is striving to please God in their own strength. This point is made clear in Galatians 5:1: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Under the new covenant, Jesus Christ Himself is the Sabbath, and accepting His free gift, instead of trying to earn salvation by works, is keeping it.

Now we know what the Sabbath looks like under the new covenant, let us examine the opening arguments to see if they line up with God’s command.

“Jesus fulfilled the law, so we no longer need to keep the sabbath.” This argument, although partially correct in it’s verbiage, inherently falls short of the understanding of the gospel. If Jesus did away with the law, there would be no point to His death. He would simply have needed to live a perfect life and then at the appointed time return to heaven. For without the law, we would have no knowledge of sin; and if the law, God’s standard of righteousness, is removed, righteousness itself is taken away.

The second argument, requiring all Christians to keep the Sabbath by worshiping God on Saturday, misunderstands Romans chapter 14 as well as 1 Corinthians chapter 8. If God leads somebody to worship Him on Saturday then they should do so out of faith. But it is not right to make a blanket statement that all are required to do so. If one is going to hold this position they should also require all to dutifully keep every command in the old testament law in order to avoid a position of hypocrisy, but in so doing they nullify the work of Christ.

Applying the Sabbath

The new covenant is one of trusting in Christ, instead of doing the work ourselves. We realize that we cannot fulfill the law and look to the One who did. But when we stray from that place of rest and move into striving to achieve acceptance through obedience, we forfeit our faith in Christ. When we perform our works before God in an attempt to please Him, we are each at the same time attempting to control our relationship with God and ultimately our final destination. Though we may not realize it, this is a form of trampling on the death and resurrection of Christ. For if our works could save us, Christ had no reason to die, and we would still be under the old covenant of the law. Therefore we must instead adopt the mindset of seeing ourselves as made righteous. Shake off guilt, shame, and condemnation. Repent of sin immediately and move on from it. Far from taking it too lightly as the enemy may have you believe, when you rise again through repentance and keep moving forward, you are walking in the righteousness that Jesus bought for you with his blood.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV