Except for here....
There remaineth therefore a rest (Sabbath keeping) to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest (the Gospel), he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
(Heb 4:9-10 KJV)
Verse 10 says we who have entered into HIS Rest, we ALSO (in addition) cease from our own works as GOD did from HIS
How do we cease from our own works?
As GOD did from HIS. That is the REST we are to enter. HE stopped working on the Seventh Day. So we stop working on the Seventh Day. That is how GOD did from HIS. He did not cease doing HIS own works of righteousness. . He is our righteousness through Faith; through Christ. He is Holy and so are we through the Gospel Rest.
Hebrews 4:9 - So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (NASB) Notice that the Greek word "sabbatismos" is used no where else in the Bible. Amazing that SDA's would suggest that this is the word for "keeping the weekly Sabbath" when it is never used anywhere else, in spite of the many references to Jews keeping the weekly Sabbath in the New Testament!
W. E. Vine, Greek Dictionary proves the Sabbatarian argument wrong:
KATAPAUSIS (2663), in classical Greek, denotes a causing to cease or putting to rest; in the N.T., rest, repose; it is used (a) of God's rest, Acts 7:49; Heb. 3:11, 18; 4:1, 3 (twice), R.V. (1st part), "that rest" (the A.V., "rest," is ambiguous), 5, 11; (b) in a general statement, applicable to God and man, 4:10.
SABBATISMOS (4520), a Sabbath-keeping, is used in Heb. 4:9, R.V., "a Sabbath rest," A.V. marg., "a keeping of a Sabbath" (akin to sabbatizoµ, to keep the Sabbath, used, e.g., in Ex. 16:30, not in the N.T.);
here the Sabbath-keeping is the perpetual Sabbath rest to be enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with the Father and the Son, in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Law. Because this Sabbath rest is the rest of God Himself, its full fruition is yet future, though believers now enter into it.
Colossians 2:16 -Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a
Sabbath day— 17 things which are a
mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Hebrews 4:10 says the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. That person has entered in God’s rest through Jesus "rests from his own work" (in contrast of trying to keep the Law) as God ceased or rested from His works in the seventh day of Creation. God's ultimate, true rest did not come through Joshua or Moses, but through Jesus Christ. Joshua led Israel into the promised land, which was merely the
earthly rest which was but a shadow of what was involved in the heavenly rest. The rest in Christ that God offers is spiritual and is superior to that which Joshua obtained. Israel's earthly rest was filled with conflict and attacks from their enemies and the daily cycle of work.
The "sabbatismos" rest enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with the Father and the Son, in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Law, is found only in Christ and not Law keeping.
Although for centuries the Jews had found their physical rest in a day, the New Covenant takes the focus off the shadows of the Old Testament
signs and rituals and reveals their spiritual substance -- the fulfillment/reality—in the person of Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)
Christians find complete Sabbath "sabbatismos" rest in Christ's finished work on the cross. The New Testament Sabbath rest is entered into by ceasing from one’s "works" of trying to earn salvation though keeping the Law. Paul explains that the
Jewish holy days, including the weekly Sabbath, were merely a “shadow” which pointed to Christ; therefore, Christians should not feel obligated to observe them once the “reality” has come (Colossians 2.16-17). Because the New Testament writers never reiterate the Sabbath command as they do the moral principles contained in the other 9 commandments, Christians are not obligated to observe a literal weekly Sabbath day which was a
sign between God and Israel (Exodus 31:16-17) and 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).
HE STOPPED WORKING ON THE SEVENTH DAY. Plain and simple. So we stop working on the Seventh Day AS HE DID because we now stand in the righteousness of Christ through Faith.
*Show me just one verse in the New Testament where Christians are commanded to keep the Sabbath day or condemned for failing to do so.
Why are you so obsessed with the Sabbath day?
Believers stand in the righteousness of Christ through Faith and
not through "grace plus law, faith plus works." Romans 4:5 - But to him who
does not work but
believes on Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom
God imputes righteousness apart from works.
Romans 10:1 - Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For
not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Philippians 3:9 - and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is
through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
NOT I BUT CHRIST.
For we are dead nevertheless we live Yet not but Christ liveth in us and the Life we now live in the flesh we live by the faith of the Son of GOD who gave himself for us.
Keep reading - I
do not nullify the grace of God, for
if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
