Do you observe the Sabbath?

[joecoten]

Jesus died to set us free from all that bondage. Traditional Judaism denies and opposes the Gospel. One needs to choose. One cannot straddle the fence. One must not deny or belittle Jesus' Atonement.

My view on the Sabbath is that as creator, He understood that we would need a day a week to rest. As to what I eat, I think that there may be some things that are not the healthiest to eat and that as one who is in Christ, under the new covenant, set free for freedom's sake, I am free to see these things through eyes that look for His wisdom. Paul says that nothing I put in my body makes me unclean, though it may not be good for me.
Has anyone read what I posted earlier? I never once said that I'm promoting Judaism. But there is much wisdom in the old testament. I affirm the word of God, from Genesis to Revelation. I am not, nor have I ever been under the old covenant, though long ago my ancestors were.
I am not straddling any fence. As I stated earlier, I am coming from a position of a born-again, Spirit-filled non-Hebrew disciple of Jesus Christ to what I believe the Lord wants to show me regarding me being of Hebrew descent. I don't have a problem with this, though I know others do.
One may say that in Christ there is neither Jew nor gentile, to which I add, there is neither male nor female. Though there are differences. I have experienced anti-semitism from some believers. This saddens me as Jesus loves all of us.
Belittling Christ's atonement, trampling His blood under foot, re-crucifying Him. I've heard all these accusations before and I do none of them. I am completely saved by Christ's substitutionary atonement for me on the cross. I received this by faith, a faith that He chose to give to me. In and of myself, I was dead in sin. Period! Without what He did, I'd be screwed!
Pentecostal, Reformed, Neo-Charismatic, and Missionary Alliance are my past influences. The word of God, the Holy Spirit, and the anointing are my teachers. Simply put, this is who I am...

I am what I am, a child of the great I Am.
By the blood of the Lamb, the Lamb who was slain
I'm precious in His sight, the apple of His eye
I am fearfully and wonderfully made -tc

 

[Jesusfollower]

I believe Christians should obey at least 9 of the 10 commandments, but I am not sure about the Sabbath commandment. I see there are some Old Testament passages about keeping the sabbath, but I can’t really see any examples of it in the New Testament.



I agree, but it doesn’t seem like Jesus was the one who gave the 10 commandments, wouldn’t that have been God the Father?

All the commandments, not 9/10 but 10/10

blessings and peace.

JF

 

[JaumeJ]

Under the Law, keeping the Sabbath was to include all in the household. Animals and servants included.
SO---as you keep the Sabbath, do you refrain from doing things that require others to work?
Things like shopping, eating out, watching tv or using the internet or your phone?
How about using power to run the air or lights.
People do have to work on the Sabbath when you use any utility.

According to our Savior, Yeshua, mercy must be applied when applying the law. Praise God and trust He is always merciful.

 

[iamsoandso]

Which day is after the eighth day....

 

[Runningman]

All the commandments, not 9/10 but 10/10

blessings and peace.

JF

Right, but how do we keep the sabbath? It looks like Jesus worked on the sabbath in Matthew 12. Also, something to consider, according to Hebrews 4, verses 9-11 in particular, it seems to say Jesus is our Sabbath test. So from my perspective it isn’t crystal clear about how to keep the sabbath because they didn’t just bluntly say “keep the sabbath”, but just added a bunch of language that seems open to interpretation.

 

[Amanuensis]

I just returned from my daily worship in the park. We start at Sunrise to worship Jesus. Many unbelievers have come down to join us and ask questions. So Far this Summer, over 500 have came to Jesus by this. We interview each person and have them call a local Pastor team to arrainge regualar attendance. In the last report from the Pastors, all have started attending their churches two or three times a week. Those who can join us on any given day do.

If you are finding out that most of the 500 you are following up on are attending churches regularly that would be phenomenal results.

Like Jonathan Edwards results. Like a 3rd Great Awakening results.

Please tell me more.

 

[peldom10]

Just curious if anyone observes the Sabbath. It seems like some people do and some people don’t, citing a variety of reasons.

Are there any clear commands to observe a Sabbath rest on the seventh day of the week? Which verses? I ask because I see there are clear commands to observe some of the 10 commandments, but I can’t find anything about Jesus or one of the apostles commanding anyone to keep the Sabbath.

Personally I don’t observe Sabbath day of rest as of right now, but I’ve considered it and I’m not opposed to it.

Also, if you keep the Sabbath, what do you do and don’t do on your Sabbath day of rest?

Absolutely.
I am committed to God's commandments and that does not allow violating the sabbath.

 

[peldom10]

All the commandments, not 9/10 but 10/10

blessings and peace.

JF

There are more than 10.
I kept track at one time and I had 25 or 30...recalling correctly.

 

[Runningman]

Absolutely.
I am committed to God's commandments and that does not allow violating the sabbath.

Okay I understand.

Provided that Jesus did work on the Sabbath, where do you draw the line for your Sabbath? It seems like Jesus said that doing good things on the Sabbath are acceptable according to Matthew 12. A good thing is working an 8 hour shift to earn money in order to provide food for your family, right?

So, effectively, Sabbath keeping is just about doing good things and not doing bad things? How is this different than any other day?

 

[peldom10]

Okay I understand.

Provided that Jesus did work on the Sabbath, where do you draw the line for your Sabbath? It seems like Jesus said that doing good things on the Sabbath are acceptable. A good thing is working an 8 hour shift to earn money in order to provide food for your family, right?

So, effectively, Sabbath keeping is just about doing good things and not doing bad things? How is this different than any other day?

Well we work on any other day.
You are suggesting that doing good things is work on sabbath. Not true.
Common sense tells us that God understands that doctors, nurses, policeman must do work on the sabbath. That requires them to adopt another day to be resolute of their sabbath....if the donkey is in the mire...get him out. Symbolic of exceptions of work on the sabbath.
I don't see that as incongruous to the commandment.

Some argue that God should not hold us responsible for our sins since God allows satan to drag us into sinfulness and it is not our fault.

 

[Runningman]

Well we work on any other day.
You are suggesting that doing good things is work on sabbath. Not true.
Common sense tells us that God understands that doctors, nurses, policeman must do work on the sabbath. That requires them to adopt another day to be resolute of their sabbath....if the donkey is in the mire...get him out. Symbolic of exceptions of work on the sabbath.
I don't see that as incongruous to the commandment.

Some argue that God should not hold us responsible for our sins since God allows satan to drag us into sinfulness and it is not our fault.

If doing good things is not work on the Sabbath then the reverse must be true; doing bad things is work on the Sabbath. Clearly doing good things on the Sabbath is not work like the scribes and Pharisees said in Matthew 12.

Christians aren’t supposed to ever do bad things any day. So how is keeping a literal Sabbath day of rest actually possible? If you needed to work 7 days a week to provide for your family and your day of work fell on a Sabbath day, would you feel you had sinned by working an 8 hour shift?

 

[Live4Him3]

My view on the Sabbath is that as creator, He understood that we would need a day a week to rest. As to what I eat, I think that there may be some things that are not the healthiest to eat and that as one who is in Christ, under the new covenant, set free for freedom's sake, I am free to see these things through eyes that look for His wisdom. Paul says that nothing I put in my body makes me unclean, though it may not be good for me.
Has anyone read what I posted earlier? I never once said that I'm promoting Judaism. But there is much wisdom in the old testament. I affirm the word of God, from Genesis to Revelation. I am not, nor have I ever been under the old covenant, though long ago my ancestors were.
I am not straddling any fence. As I stated earlier, I am coming from a position of a born-again, Spirit-filled non-Hebrew disciple of Jesus Christ to what I believe the Lord wants to show me regarding me being of Hebrew descent. I don't have a problem with this, though I know others do.
One may say that in Christ there is neither Jew nor gentile, to which I add, there is neither male nor female. Though there are differences. I have experienced anti-semitism from some believers. This saddens me as Jesus loves all of us.
Belittling Christ's atonement, trampling His blood under foot, re-crucifying Him. I've heard all these accusations before and I do none of them. I am completely saved by Christ's substitutionary atonement for me on the cross. I received this by faith, a faith that He chose to give to me. In and of myself, I was dead in sin. Period! Without what He did, I'd be screwed!
Pentecostal, Reformed, Neo-Charismatic, and Missionary Alliance are my past influences. The word of God, the Holy Spirit, and the anointing are my teachers. Simply put, this is who I am...

I am what I am, a child of the great I Am.
By the blood of the Lamb, the Lamb who was slain
I'm precious in His sight, the apple of His eye
I am fearfully and wonderfully made -tc

I've noticed that "tc" at the end of some of your posts.

Excuse my ignorance, but what does that stand for?

Thanks.

 

[birdie]

Just curious if anyone observes the Sabbath. It seems like some people do and some people don’t, citing a variety of reasons.

Are there any clear commands to observe a Sabbath rest on the seventh day of the week? Which verses? I ask because I see there are clear commands to observe some of the 10 commandments, but I can’t find anything about Jesus or one of the apostles commanding anyone to keep the Sabbath.

Personally I don’t observe Sabbath day of rest as of right now, but I’ve considered it and I’m not opposed to it.

Also, if you keep the Sabbath, what do you do and don’t do on your Sabbath day of rest?

Thanks for the question Runningman. "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." How is it that the sabbath is a shadow? It is a shadow because it is a picture of what Christ did for us. If you are part of the reality of what Christ has done, you don't need the ritual pointing to him. You only need him. For example, we read in Exodus: "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you." So the sabbath is a picture of how Christ does all the work of sanctifying his believers and the believers only rest in that sense. They cannot save themselves by their work (which would not be a sinless sacrifice like Christ's work). It took Christ's work on the cross to save them, so instead of working to save themselves by their own 'goodness', they rest and trust in Christ's actual goodness.

I do not think that a ritual on a certain day would save us. In fact, there is a scripture in the Bible that talks about a person who did work to save himself: "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day...And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death". This story is a parable picture (remember the whole Bible is written in parable form) of how a person cannot by their own works save themselves. Those who rely on their own work will die, whilst those who rely on Christ's work will live. Believers rest in that sense.

 

[ResidentAlien]

"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

 

[JohnDB]

I observe the Sabbath....
Because there is only One Sabbath....the day Jesus died is it. I remember that day and keep it always in remembrance.

The command isn't Sabbath DayS....it is Sabbath Day....meaning one not multiple ones.

 

[Aaron56]

Hebrews 4:9-11 "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience."

The word for “rest” is the Greek word, katapausis, and it literally means to repose, to lie down; but it also means abode, a place which is your home, your rest, your location. Rest is simply the question: Who do you trust? The greatest of your inheritances is to come into God’s rest, which is to trust Him. Rest is the state of being in which God is, and to which we are invited to be when we are in Christ. In His rest we cease from all of our own labors, the economy of the sweat of your brow, and do only that which He instructs us to do. In the economy of rest, we encounter again the provision of God.

Rest is the certainty that God knows the end from the beginning and has already resolved every matter that you are about to encounter. It is by faith that you enter into His rest, for they who believe enter His rest. We cannot enter into His rest, obviously, so long as we do not have faith in the fact that He is our Father, and in the fact that He will reward us with His presence. Your Father has determined the purpose for your being in this world and that purpose may be pursued fully from a state of complete trust in Him. From this position of rest in the certainty of God as our Father, we willfully obey, doing only what God says. That is God’s rest into which you are invited, as His son, to come and remain, for God has foreordained the courses of your life.

Rest is not the cessation of activity. Rest is not the absence of work. Rest is working from a position of legitimately delegated authority and doing nothing in your own strength. You are free to function according to the terms and conditions of your authority because the One whose authority was delegated to you guarantees the outcome, so long as you function within the scope of that authority.

When you diligently seek Him, He brings you to a condition of rest that is analogous to death. The process of seeking God requires you to come to a condition of not resisting God. And He will test you again and again and again to see what remains of resistance to Him in you. God has to bring the soul to the place of no ability to resist, where it does not scare you that you do not have any solutions. What that is saying is that your faith in the living God is not just a platitude, your faith in the living God is the foundation on which you live. It is just the question of, by whose strength are you doing what you are called to do? God means to break down the default setting that you have to rely upon what you can do. Step by step, event by event, result by result, God means to wean you out of the toil of the sweat of your brow and bring you back into the rest that He created in which for you to function. When that happens, you can enter His rest, and cease from your labors, and join into the eternal flow of the prior intent.

Entering into God’s rest is where you tithémi, you lie down in the fundamental truth that God is your Father, and He will reward you with His presence when you diligently seek Him. His presence comes with everything necessary for life and godliness. Do not underestimate the power of the rest of God that resides in you. God established the earth to function best at that command of a people who are at rest. There are some wide horizons to be retaken by the sons of God in the earth, and that is why we must labor to enter His rest.

In contrast to God's rest is the observance of the Jewish Law. The example for Godly rest is given to us on the 7th Day of creation when God rested. God remains in this state of rest and it's THAT rest we are to enter into. If we observe only 1 day out of 7 for rest, we are missing 6 of 7 days. The fullness of His rest is a condition of the heart not whether or not we are active. The Jewish Law of the Sabbath was a type and shadow of the full condition of rest we are called into. Observing the Jewish Law of Sabbath is empty religion. The standard of Christ for the Sabbath is "Today, if you will hear His voice ..." enter His rest.

 

[Melach]

I am very careful about who I hang out with. Hebrew roots means all kinds of things. Sabbatarian, I've never heard of that. You should be more careful with your words. I've heard that "Christians" will screw you up. This is not a totally wrong statement, but it is a far cry from being the absolute truth.
One of the teachers at a group I've been in contact with is Doug Hamp. Perhaps you've heard of him?

Doug was exactly what i was talking about referencing the double talk. you look at the video here and its all fine. sounds great. look at the historical context. but this same guy and his movement turns around and says but later on though, you should get circumcised because you need to be circumcised to keep the passover.

its always that later on part. they tell you its by grace through faith, but then if you don't do this and that later, then maaaybe just maybe you were never really saved to begin with? i mean why don't you wanna obey God's torah? see thats how they get people to be cut off from grace.

 

[joecoten]

After 6 days of making everything, God instituted the Sabbath. It was not a Jewish law because at this point, Jews did not exist. The reason for this seventh day rest is because one gets tired after working 6 days in a row. It is a God-ordained day of rest.
Entering God's salvation-rest is about accepting Christ's atonement as our only basis of acceptance by God. It is about ceasing from trying to obey or please God, and thus being accepted by Him, by our own efforts, or works.
If one thinks that they are 99% accepted by Christ's atonement, but the other 1% is due to their own effort, perhaps because it just isn't fair that you get off completely scot-free, then at this point, one has entered into unbelief. Our salvation is by faith alone(true faith is always followed by works), and even this faith is a gift from God, "lest any man should boast."
I "observe" the Sabbath only because I believe it's God's idea and if it's His idea, then it would be smart for me to listen to Him. It has nothing to do with being saved or not. We are under the new covenant, not the old.
I am accepted unconditionally by Father God because of what Christ did. And this is His idea, not mine. I've arrived at this place through many years of bible study, soul-searching, and repentance. I believe this is working out one's salvation. And I'm not saying I've arrived or I'm perfect, because I'm not.
This journey began for me when, after earnestly seeking Him for 4 months, He gave me a revelation, in a vision, of His unconditional love for me. It was the best day of my life. The day I met my Father. My heart glowed from this experience for years. Every time I opened my mouth, I talked about it.
The beautiful thing is that He doesn't play favorites when it comes to His love for His children. If you are in Christ, this is for you too!
I am adopted through faith in Christ. He is my Father and I am His son...for eternity. I can do whatever I want, if I so chose, as I have free will, but He will discipline me.

 

[joecoten]

Doug was exactly what i was talking about referencing the double talk. you look at the video here and its all fine. sounds great. look at the historical context. but this same guy and his movement turns around and says but later on though, you should get circumcised because you need to be circumcised to keep the passover.

its always that later on part. they tell you its by grace through faith, but then if you don't do this and that later, then maaaybe just maybe you were never really saved to begin with? i mean why don't you wanna obey God's torah? see thats how they get people to be cut off from grace.

Then don't listen to him. Shalom.

 

[joecoten]

"8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." - Exodus 20:8
" Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel ..." - Exodus 31:16
He didn't say until the covenants change.
I observe the Sabbath as an act of worship. What you do is up to you. If I say any more, I'll just be repeating myself. Sheesh!