More On Keeping The Sabbath

Q

How does your position on Sunday worship follow the words by Jesus in Matt 5: 17-19? “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

A

You misunderstood my study. I didn’t mean to imply that we’re no longer required to obey the commandment to observe the Sabbath. What I said was that according to Hebrews 4 the Sabbath is no longer simply one day out of seven. It’s a life long observation. When God finished the 6 day work of creation He rested. There’s no reference to what He did on the eighth day because the work of Creation was finished and He’s never taken it up again. When we accept the Lord’s death as payment in full for our sins, the work of salvation is finished and we’re to enter into a life long rest from this work and never take it up again. That’s why Paul said the debate over which day is correct is irrelevant. (Romans 14:5, Colossians 2:16).

This is really no different from the other commandments. For example, in Matt. 5:21-22 Jesus said just because we don’t murder people doesn’t mean we’ve kept the commandment. If we’re angry with some one it’s just as bad as if we killed him. Then He said the same about adultery (Matt. 5:27-28). Lustful thoughts are as bad as the act itself. These were just two examples He used to show that keeping the commandments is not a matter of outward behavior, it’s the motivation of our heart that either commends or condemns us. Likewise, just because a person is in church one morning each week, doesn’t mean he’s keeping the Sabbath commandment. He keeps the Sabbath commandment by entering a life long rest from the work of salvation. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9)