Our Sabbath Rest

Q

But every Church I go to has a different teaching about the Sabbath. One says we don’t need to keep it. Another says Jesus is our Sabbath so we keep it whether we rest on a day or not. Even another says that we can keep it if we want to, and disregard it if we would rather do that. Imagine the confusion we laypeople go through. We don’t have time to become famous Bible expositors. Who is correct about the Sabbath?

A

It’s been demonstrated in both secular and religious studies that resting one day out of seven makes a person more productive on the other six. And the Bible encourages us to associate with other believers who can encourage us and pray for us when things are going bad, and rejoice with us when everything is good. The easiest time to do that is on Sunday, and we can take a break from work at the same time.

That’s why Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”(Mark 2:27) And later Paul wrote, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Col 2:16-17). These two statements warn us against turning the weekly Sabbath into a rule that has to be obeyed to avoid punishment.

In Hebrews 4 we’re told that for Christians the Old Testament Sabbath restriction against work represents our life long rest from the work of salvation after accepting the Lord’s death as payment for our sins. On the 7th day, the Lord rested from His work of Creation because it was finished. When we are saved the work of our new creation is finished as well (2 Corinth. 5:17). Work on the Sabbath was punishable by death as a warning to believers against continuing to work for our salvation, because doing so means we don’t really believe Jesus died for us. And that means we aren’t really saved and are destined for death.

What this all means is that you have the freedom to observe the Sabbath or not. Doing so is good for you in many ways, but it’s not mandatory. What is mandatory is that you remember your Sabbath Rest (resting from the work of your salvation) and keep it holy.