The importance of a Sabbath day, one day per week, the last day of the week – Saturday – cannot be overstated in the Old Testament. It was first stated to the Israelites right after their rescue from Egypt. Through Moses on Mount Sinai, YHWH God gave the people Ten Commandments to follow, including the one about the Sabbath: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)
Moses then restated it in Deuteronomy 5 in his outlining to that new generation of Israelites (the original generation had died in the wilderness, all except for Joshua and Caleb) their people’s history of the previous 40 years. In his recounting of their people’s last 40 years, Moses reiterated the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath Day one. Saturday as the Sabbath Day became an inflexible rule for Israelites/Jews and that is still true today.
So, why do almost 100% of Christians not keep this commandment? Of the Ten Commandments, it is the only one not followed strictly. It is because the first Christians – who were devout Jews – didn’t. What caused that changed? The resurrection of Jesus happened on a Sunday and so the first Christians changed their “day of rest” to “the Lord’s Day”, Sunday, in honour of Jesus, their/our Lord. Everywhere they went throughout Europe, the apostles observed Sunday as their special day. The apostle John, on the island of Patmos off the coast of today’s nation of Turkiye, stated, ‘On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit.’ (Revelation 1:10). The apostle Paul gave instructions to the church in Corinth, Greece, ‘On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.’ (1 Corinthians 16:2) Paul also wrote the church in Rome, Italy, ‘One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.’ (Romans 14:5) Furthermore, Paul wrote to the church in Colossae, Turkiye, ‘ 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.’ (Colossians 2:16,17)
But the issue of Sabbath goes even deeper than simply setting aside one day per week to honour the Lord. It involves our entire life as a Christian. The following was posted on the baptistmessenger.com website by Chris Forbes in 2017: ‘The life we live as Christians is marked by resting from working to earn God’s favor and trusting in the completed work of Christ on the cross to fulfil God’s requirements for salvation. Christ’s work of gaining salvation for us though His death, and resurrection is the fulfillment of what God intended from the foundation of the world (Heb. 4:3). The Sabbath day of rest in the Old Testament was a foreshadowing of Christ’s completed work on our behalf. Christ said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) on the cross, after all. Thus, the entire Christian life can be considered as a Sabbath rest. “Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. For the person who has entered His rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:9-10). If you really understand the implications of the Gospel, it is liberating—not to mention spiritually restful. There is a Sabbath rest for Christians. It is Jesus. It is the life we have in Him.
Technically speaking, the reason there is no Christian Sabbath is because Jesus is our Sabbath rest, and our life becomes a Sabbath rest from our spiritual works as we walk in Him. We need to be careful not to imply that Christians have a legalistic obligation to obey a Sabbath on Sunday. Such legalism is foreign to the Gospel which states, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
I am not making this point because I think Christians don’t need to go to church on Sunday because they want to stay home and watch a football game or go fishing. I love church, and I believe Christians need to have at least one day per week that is fully focused on Christ. Christians need to be with other Christians. The author of Hebrews also encourages believers: “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Heb. 10:24–25).
Does the idea of the Christian as Sabbath rest because of the life Jesus gives us in Him seem radical to you? I hope so. I hope it leads you to treat your whole life as holy and set apart for Christ. I pray that when you teach people about the Gospel, you spare them from the false impression that they are somehow earning God’s favor by going to church on Sunday. I pray they see Sunday in the proper perspective. It’s a special day when we choose to be thankful to and worship God for His salvation that is paid for entirely by Jesus. As He has said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) It’s ok. Go ahead and rest in Christ. He is our Sabbath!’
