Before I ask my question please have the time and respect to read this to the end because many Christians only read a few lines and then answer my question without reading the whole thing. Cheers.
Why do many Christians only believe what they want to believe? For instance, when I bring up the Sabbath commandment most Christians will scoff. But I will prove how their logic fails:
Ask a Christian if they keep God%26#039;s 10 commandments. Most will say yes. Then ask them if they keep the fourth commandment. Most will say no because we are not under the law, but yet they believe we should still keep the other 9, but ignore the fourth.
Other Christians will say they do keep the fourth commandment because they go to church on Sunday. What they fail to realise is that the catholic church changed it from Saturday to Sunday with NO SCRIPTUAL AUTHORITY. There is no scripture in the Bible that commands us to keep Sunday as the new Sabbath day. It%26#039;s all based on traditions of men in the church and not the Bible.
Some Christians think that they keep the Sabbath 7 days a week by resting in Jesus. But yet there is no commandment in the Bible that tells us to forget about the 7th day Sabbath because we now rest in Jesus. Infact if you read the book of Acts you will see that the Sabbath was being kept, even by Gentiles, long after Jesus went back to heaven. To keep the Sabbath means to rest from all your work and worship God. Yes we should worship God 7 days a week, but the Sabbath is a day of rest. If you were to keep the Sabbath every day then that would make you a lazy person because you would be resting 7 days a week.
Some people like to use Colossians 2:16, which they rip out of context. Colossians 2:16 is referring to the yearly sabbaths that were written on paper with food and drink and festivals etc. Colossians 2:16 is not referring to the 7th day Sabbath of the 10 commandments. Read a little bit before Colossians 2:16 and it talks about the handwriting being nailed to the cross--the handwriting of Moses. Notice how it says %26quot;let no one judge you concerning idol worship, adultry, coveting, lying etc%26quot; The law of Moses written on paper was done away with. The law of God (10 commandments) still stand--Luke 16:17
Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of all--James 2:10.
The fact of the matter is is that if the catholic church had not changed the Sabbath to Sunday, I believe Christians would be going to church on Saturday instead of Sunday.|||Should we keep the Sabbath or not?
Exodus 20:8; 23:12; 31:15; Deuteronomy 5:12; Leviticus 26:2 and Romans 14:5; Colossians 2:16
1.Keep the Sabbath
A.(Exodus 20:8-9) - %26quot;Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 %26quot;Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
B.(Exodus 23:12) - %26quot;Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor in order that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves.%26quot;
C.(Exodus 31:15) - %26quot;For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.%26quot;
D.(Deuteronomy 5:12) - %26quot;Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.%26quot;
E.(Leviticus 26:2) - %26quot;You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the Lord.%26quot;
2.Don%26#039;t keep the Sabbath
A.(Romans 14:5) - %26quot;One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind.%26quot;
B.(Colossians 2:16) - %26quot;Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.%26quot;
It was the custom of the Jews to come together on the Sabbath, which is Saturday, cease work, and worship God. Of the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20:1-17, only nine of them were reinstituted in the New Testament. (Six in Matthew 19:18, murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, honor parents, and worshiping God; Romans 13:9, coveting. Worshiping God properly covers the first three commandments) The one that was not reaffirmed was the one about the Sabbath. Instead, Jesus said that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8).
In creation God rested on the seventh day. But, since God is all powerful, He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t need to take a break and rest. So, why does it say that He rested? The reason is simple: Mark 2:27 says, %26quot;The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.%26quot; In other words, God established the Sabbath as a rest for His people, not because He needed a break, but because we are mortal and need a time of rest, of focus on God. In this, our spirits and bodies are both renewed.
The O.T. system of Law required keeping the Sabbath as part of the overall moral, legal, and sacrificial system by which the Jewish people satisfied God’s requirements for behavior, government, and forgiveness of sins. The Sabbath was part of the Law in that sense. In order to %26quot;remain%26quot; in favor with God, you had to also keep the Sabbath. If it was not kept, then the person was in sin and would often be punished (Ezekiel 18:4; Rom. 6:23; Deut. 13:1-9; Num. 35:31; Lev. 20:2, etc.).
But with Jesus’ atonement, and justification by faith (Rom. 5:1), we no longer are required to keep the Law and hence the Sabbath which was only a shadow of things to come (Col. 2:16-17). We are not under Law, but grace (Rom. 6:14-15). The Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus because in Him we have rest (Matt. 11:28). We are not under obligation to keep the Law and this goes for the Sabbath as well.
http://www.carm.org/bible-difficulties/g…|||I assure you , not only Christians %26quot;only read a few lines and then answer my question without reading the whole thing%26quot; . Others do it as well .|||You ask for respect and then you ask,
Why do many Christians only believe what they want to believe?
Hmm
Galations 5: You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.|||Yes, I did read it to the end
Your turn
It is often claimed that “God instituted the Sabbath in Eden” because of the connection between the Sabbath and creation in Exodus 20:11. Although God%26#039;s rest on the seventh day (Genesis 2:3) did foreshadow a future Sabbath law, there is no biblical record of the Sabbath before the children of Israel left the land of Egypt. Nowhere in Scripture is there any hint that Sabbath-keeping was practiced from Adam to Moses.
The Word of God makes it quite clear that Sabbath observance was a special sign between God and Israel: “The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested” (Exodus 31:16–17).
In Deuteronomy 5, Moses restates the Ten Commandments to the next generation of Israelites. Here, after commanding Sabbath observance in verses 12–14, Moses gives the reason the Sabbath was given to the nation Israel: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15).
God%26#039;s intent for giving the Sabbath to Israel was not that they would remember creation, but that they would remember their Egyptian slavery and the Lord%26#039;s deliverance. Note the requirements for Sabbath-keeping: A person placed under that Sabbath law could not leave his home on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:29), he could not build a fire (Exodus 35:3), and he could not cause anyone else to work (Deuteronomy 5:14). A person breaking the Sabbath law was to be put to death (Exodus 31:15; Numbers 15:32–35).
An examination of New Testament passages shows us four important points: 1) Whenever Christ appears in His resurrected form and the day is mentioned, it is always the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1, 9, 10; Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1, 13, 15; John 20:19, 26). 2) The only time the Sabbath is mentioned from Acts through Revelation it is for evangelistic purposes to the Jews and the setting is usually in a synagogue (Acts chapters 13–18). Paul wrote, “to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews” (1 Corinthians 9:20). Paul did not go to the synagogue to fellowship with and edify the saints, but to convict and save the lost. 3) Once Paul states “from now on I will go to the Gentiles” (Acts 18:6), the Sabbath is never again mentioned. And 4) instead of suggesting adherence to the Sabbath day, the remainder of the New Testament implies the opposite (including the one exception to point 3 above, found in Colossians 2:16).
Looking more closely at point 4 above will reveal that there is no obligation for the New Testament believer to keep the Sabbath, and will also show that the idea of a Sunday “Christian Sabbath” is also unscriptural. As discussed above, there is one time the Sabbath is mentioned after Paul began to focus on the Gentiles, “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). The Jewish Sabbath was abolished at the cross where Christ “canceled the written code, with its regulations” (Colossians 2:14).
This idea is repeated more than once in the New Testament: “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord” (Romans 14:5–6a). “But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years” (Galatians 4:9–10).
But some claim that a mandate by Constantine in A.D. 321 “changed” the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. On what day did the early church meet for worship? Scripture never mentions any Sabbath (Saturday) gatherings by believers for fellowship or worship. However, there are clear passages that mention the first day of the week. For instance, Acts 20:7 states that “on the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” In 1 Corinthians 16:2 Paul urges the Corinthian believers “on the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.” Since Paul designates this offering as “service” in 2 Corinthians 9:12, this collection must have been linked with the Sunday worship service of the Christian assembly. Historically Sunday, not Saturday, was the normal meeting day for Christians in the church, and its practice dates back to the first century.
The Sabbath was given to Israel, not the church. The Sabbath is still Saturday, not Sunday, and has never been changed. But the Sabbath is part of the Old Testament Law, and Christians are free from the bondage of the Law (Galatians 4:1-26; Romans 6:14). Sabbath keeping is not required of the Christian—be it Saturday or Sunday. The first day of the week, Sunday, the Lord%26#039;s Day (Revelation 1:10) celebrates the New Creation, with Christ as our resurrected Head. We are not obligated to follow the Mosaic Sabbath—resting, but are now free to follow the risen Christ—serving. The Apostle Paul said that each individual Christian should decide whether to observe a Sabbath rest, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Romans 14:5). We are to worship God every day, not just on Saturday or Sunday.
The End of the Law: Mosaic Covenant in Pauline Theology
http://www.christianbook.com/the-law-mos…|||Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
God has entered His rest -- For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
So all joined to Him must rest with Him.
You carry on working at your Sabbath observance and so remain in your separation from God. The Jews too keep the Sabbath because they too reject Christ.
Let others be joined to God and rest from such works.|||1) Ask a Christian if they keep God%26#039;s 10 commandments. Most will say yes. Then ask them if they keep the fourth commandment. Most will say no because we are not under the law, but yet they believe we should still keep the other 9, but ignore the fourth.
What you have uncovered here is an logical error in the reasoning of the particular Christians to whom you spoke - not any logical error in Christian doctrine.
Analogy: Ask an atheist if the Earth rotates about its axis. Most will say %26quot;yes%26quot;. Then ask them if they can prove that it does. Most will show you a science book or web site that claims that the Earth rotates about its axis. When you then ask them how that is proof, most will give you a response similar in unreasonableness to the response you quote from Christians.
2) What they fail to realise is that the catholic church changed it from Saturday to Sunday with NO SCRIPTUAL AUTHORITY.
? About 3/4 of the world%26#039;s Christians accept the authority of that decision without Scripture and realizing that it is not and never was based on Scripture. Of the other 1/4 or so, I%26#039;m guessing that most either don%26#039;t realize it is not based on Scriptural authority or don%26#039;t believe that they need to observe the Biblical Sabbath.
So - now that we know you are addressing this question ONLY to Protestants that do not observe the Sabbath in the manner required of Jewish people in the Bible, we can continue.....
3) Infact if you read the book of Acts you will see that the Sabbath was being kept, even by Gentiles, long after Jesus went back to heaven.
Read Acts 15. Please.
Also: what Gentiles were keeping the Jewish Sabbath in Acts?
4) To keep the Sabbath means to rest from all your work and worship God.
The Bible describes it differently (though the %26quot;no work%26quot; thing is accurate).
5) Colossians 2:16 is referring to the yearly sabbaths that were written on paper with food and drink and festivals
What is your evidence that this passage refers only to the annual Sabbaths? You have provided none. Should we believe you because you say it is true?
6) The law of Moses written on paper was done away with. The law of God (10 commandments) still stand
The Decalogue is indisputably a part of the Mosaic Law. I know of no appropriately-accredited scholar who suggests otherwise.
7) Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of all
Yes - now YOU read the context - particularly v 12
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea…
8) The fact of the matter is is that if the catholic church had not changed the Sabbath to Sunday, I believe Christians would be going to church on Saturday instead of Sunday.
Probably true, but entirely irrelevant.
Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com|||You are right.
The 7th day is Saturday.
But this doesn%26#039;t mean worshipping God on Sundays is wrong.
Lightning from the East%26#039;s answer explains it perfectly.|||Agree,
Sunday was the day roman pagans used to worship sun.
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