The Sabbath Day, Should You Keep or not Keep?

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Originally Posted by Aquila

Many look at it like this... just as the "book of the law" (Law of Moses) explained to Israel how God desired them to keep His 10 Commandments as a nation, Christ's commandments (the Law of Christ) teaches how God desires us to obey His 10 Commandments as a church. So, for us, the Law of Christ has replaced the Law of Moses.



Well, that is a touchy issue. But we have to start somewhere. I toss around these questions:

Was it a sin to not observe the Sabbath prior to Christ?

Did Christ keep the Sabbath?

How did Christ keep the Sabbath?

Better still.... is Christ the sabbath now?

Yes.

Is it a sin to violate any of the other commandments contained in the Ten Commandments?

Seeing that most preach that it is a sin to forsake the gathering together of the body on Sunday, why is it so outrageous to equate the same logic to a day that God appears to have sanctified from the time of creation?

Both are wrong. Who said forsaking gathering on a particular day like Sunday is a sin? It doe snot matter what "most preach". It matters with the bible says.

Doesn't anyone who violates a given commandment out of the Ten Commandments feel that the commandment they violate is somehow, "less binding" than the one's they find it easier to obey?

Jesus is sabbath unlike the other commandments he does not fulfill.

Is it a matter of salvation or sanctification?

Do I keep the Sabbath to be saved, or do I keep the Sabbath because I am saved?

Do I count the Sabbath as an obligation, or a gift to me from my Creator?

Do I view the Sabbath as a sacred delight that I am blessed to partake in?

Is failure or inability to keep the Sabbath an unforgiveable sin?

If I or individuals I know violated a given commandment, do I not seek God for mercy and grace believing that He will be merciful and gracious? Why wouldn't God be equally as gracious and merciful to those who fail to keep the Sabbath or are unable to keep the Sabbath due to circumstance?

One should approach Sabbath keeping with as much love, devotion, mercy, and patience (towards themselves and others) as they would any other commandment as we sanctify ourselves and grow into the fullness of Christ.

Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV)
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

It is not a sin to not gather on Sunday any more than it is to not keep sabbath, and Sunday is not the sabbath. But I've said this over and over again... we who recognize Christ as the true sabbath actually keep the sabbath, and are not violating it as if we're sinning. Christ fulfilled sabbath in Himself.

If we have Christ, we have the sabbath and everything else that foreshadowed Christ. Despite those who disagree, the New Testament's far too plain about Sabbath being a shadow of Christ. Takes some mighty reaching and twisting to say otherwise.