Is Sabbath Observance Required For Salvation? Part 1

Is Sunday Worship Pagan?

Hello and welcome to finding the alternative. I am very happy you chose to come and spend time here on our website. There are a lot of other blogs with a lot of better content and probably more coherent content. Just know I am extremely grateful for your time.

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Today we are going to look at the WMSCOG insistence that we must keep the 7th Day Sabbath to be saved. We will examine the Old Testament Sabbath, look at the alleged evidence of Sabbath keeping in the New Testament. We will also look at early church history in regard to the Sabbath. Lastly we will look at some instances that the WMSCOG used to prove that the early church kept Sabbath.

Essentially through this article, my goal is to clear up any discrepancies once and for all in regard to keeping the Sabbath. Also, we will examine if it is wrong to observe Sunday biblically and historically speaking.

As always we break this down into 4 parts.

1. What is the teaching regarding the Sabbath in the WMSCOG.

2. What is the origin of this teaching? The Church of God Seventh Day restored the Sabbath in 1858. Not the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

3. What does the bible say about Sabbath and Sunday respectively? The Bible supports both.

4. Our conclusion. The Sabbath is not binding anymore, you are welcome to observe it though but it is not enforceable. There is biblical evidence in the bible and early church writings that Christians were worshipping on Sunday. Therefore Sunday is also permissible.

   
   

Ok so what is the teaching regarding the Sabbath and why is the WMSCOG so adamant about keeping it. To be fair the WMSCOG is not the only one that is obsessed with keeping the laws of the torah. Many Christian groups that appeared after the reformation began turning back to the Old Covenant law. Then what verses does the WMSCOG use to enforce the observance of Sabbath?

Firstly, the WMSCOG shows the verses in Revelation 22:18-19 about God’s strict warning about adding or taking away from the word of God. Not only this but they also show the prophecy of Matthew 13 regarding Jesus’ parable about the weeds and wheat. How they interpret this prophecy is they make the insistence that Jesus came and brought one truth which is the wheat that was sown.

Then when Jesus and the Apostles died the enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat. WMSCOG teaches that these weeds are teachings that came after the death of Jesus and the Apostles like Christmas, Sunday, Easter etc. They also say that those who observe these weed-like teachings are added to the bible and those who follow the weeds in accordance with the prophecy are gathered into bundles and thrown into hell.

Since they also use these insistences to prove why they are the sole true church on earth and that everyone else that is not in their church is going to hell.

One of the teachings the WMSCOG regard as the wheat Jesus sowed is the observance of the 7th Day Sabbath. They regard the observance of Sunday worship as weed-like teaching that will lead you to hell.

Now let’s examine the verses the WMSCOG uses to prove why the Sabbath is binding even today and that the WMSCOG is the only one in the world to keep the Sabbath correctly. I will explain how the WMSCOG teaches the Sabbath as if I was trying to lead you into the Church. I would teach you something like this.

Genesis 2:1-3

 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Here we can see that since creation God has set apart the seventh day, not only that but God who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent rested on the 7th day. Not on this but God made it a commandment.

Exodus 20:8-11

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.

Here we can see God said “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” In the 10 commandments God made keeping the Sabbath 4th commandment. Not only that but God made it a sign between God and God’s people.

Exodus 31:13-14

Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people.

As we just read the Sabbath is a sign between God and God’s people, anyone who desecrates is to be put to death and cut off from God’s people.

God promises to bless his people and make them holy on the seventh day Sabbath.

Isaiah 56:2

Blessed is the one who does this—the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.

Blessed are those who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it. Also, false prophets are those who shut their eyes to keeping God’s sabbaths.

Ezekiel 22:25-28

There is a conspiracy of her princes[a] within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.

Let’s see one more verse in the Old Testament.

Nehemiah 13:17-18

“I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn’t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.”

Here in the two passages we just read, we can see that those who shut their eyes to the keeping of God’s sabbaths are the false prophets. Not only that but it is a wicked thing to desecrate the Sabbath day. So very clearly we can see that God has strict enforcement of the Sabbath day in the Old Testament. Then what about the New Testament? God still enforces the Sabbath day.

Luke 4:16

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read,

Here we can see Jesus' custom was to keep the Sabbath, then if we are Christians should we do as Jesus did or no? Then what about the Apostles did they keep the Sabbath even after Jesus went up to Heaven? Let’s see.

Acts 17:2

As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

As we just read we can clearly see that Apostle Paul kept the Sabbath Day as his custom. Let’s see another verse.

Acts 18:4

Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Again Paul kept every Sabbath. So clearly we can see that the Sabbath is still commanded in the New Testament times. Those who don’t keep the Sabbath will never be able to enter the Sabbath rest. Sabbath is the will of God in these last days.

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Those who don’t do the will of God will never enter heaven. However those who hold fast to God’s will and keep the Sabbath will enter Heaven.

 This is the basic teaching accompanied with the verses that the WMSCOG uses to prove that Sabbath is still enforceable and that those who disagree with the WMSCOG are disagreeing as it were with the bible, since this is the case the WMSCOG says those who deviate from their rules are deviating from the bible and there will be hell to pay, literally. Those Sunday worshipers are going to get what’s coming to them.

Then what about the Origin? The WMSCOG teaches that the Seventh Day Adventist Church is the Church that restored the partial Sabbath day in 1844. However there are three things wrong with this claim. 

First issue is that the Seventh Day Adventist Church was not the first church that established the observance of the Sabbath Day. If you look into the history of the William Miller Movement, from the movement came the Church of God Seventh Day, which was established in 1858 that observed Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening. 

Second issue is that the reason why they claim the partial establishment of the Sabbath day is because the WMSCOG believe the Seventh Day Adventist and the Jews are wrong because they observe Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening. So WMSCOG says the SDA church was the partial restoration of the Sabbath day.

However in my prior blog I proved that Sunset Reckoning, meaning the day begins and ends with sunset or evening is actually biblical. 

Since this is the case the SDA Church actually established the correct Sabbath day in its entirety and keeps it the correct way according to the bible which is from Friday evening to Saturday evening.

But for arguments sake let’s say that the Day Reckoning was correct and that Sabbath begins at dawn. How does that make a difference? The SDA holds their worship services on Saturday during that day. It is no different than how the WMSCOG keeps it, as the WMSCOG too has services on Saturday as well.

It is just another feeble attempt at authenticity or distinction to an organization that is unoriginal, an organization that is pretty late to the game and an organization that is trying to stay relevant.

The Third and final reason the alleged origin of the Sabbath day being restored that the WMSCOG teaches is a complete fiction is that they say the SDA church restored the Sabbath in 1844. This is incorrect. The SDA church was founded by Ellen White in 1863. Why? Because in 1844 the prophetess Ellen White was only 17 years old and this was before she began having her prophetic visions. Again the Church of God Seventh Day was established first in 1858.

So already we are off to a pretty shaky start. Then let’s analyze the Sabbath and see what we can find.

Firstly, we must understand something, what is the Sabbath according to the Old Testament. Now the WMSCOG uses verses in the Old Testament to show their enforcement of the Sabbath today. But let me show why this is problematic.

Let’s examine what the regulations of the Sabbath are in the Old Covenant. 

Numbers 28:9

 “‘On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah[c] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.”

And

Exodus 35:2-3

“For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

So here on the Sabbath there is to be an offering of two lambs, a drink offering and a grain offering. Not only that but you must not work, in fact you can’t even light a fire.

If you want to keep the Sabbath then this is what you need to do. Now does this apply to us today? Of course it doesn’t. You can imply “Oh well now it is different and it is a spiritual sacrifice, it is sermons, newsongs and prayers etc.”

But is that what it was to the Israelites? No, it was animal sacrifice. Imply whatever you would like but the reality is if you want to keep the Sabbath you must also keep the offerings as prescribed in the law.

You can’t use the Old Law to insist we must keep the Sabbath today, but then say actually we keep the Sabbath of the Old Law just differently now instead. Ok, but then why are you using this verse about the Old Covenant and its regulations to justify the New Covenant Sabbath that is not kept the same way as we see here?

Let’s now analyse the blessings and curses of the Sabbath.

Isaiah 58:13-14

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The bible tells us that those who keep the Sabbath will ride in triumph on the heights of the land and feast on the inheritance of their Father Jacob.

However is this word for us? Or is this word only for the Israelites? In the Old Testament, those who held fast the Sabbath were blessed physically with land. Basically, their blessings were physical.

When you believed in Jesus did God ever promise you a portion of land? Did you sign a deed after baptism? I don’t think so. So, the blessings of keeping the Sabbath in this verse don’t apply to us who are gentiles who are not descendants of Jacob. God never promised to give us land, that promise was only given to the Israelites.

Now you might say, “Well our blessing is spiritual land, Heaven.” Right, that’s all fine and dandy, but that is not what the verse is saying is it? We are talking about the actual words given to Israel at that time. Not what we can imply or understand from these words. 

If we are saying that we must observe the literal Sabbath mentioned in these verses just like the Israelites then you must accept everything that comes with it as well. Not just pick and choose what you want.

The bible doesn’t work that way.

You can’t use these verses and say “See the bible says we need to keep the Sabbath.” to then turn around and say “Oh the blessings and curses we see in these verses attached to the command of Sabbath are not applicable.”

Then vice versa, if the blessings and curses that we see in the Old Testament don’t apply to us today, then it means the enforcement of the Sabbath doesn’t apply either. You can’t have both.

 If the Sabbath in these verses is enforceable today then it means the blessings and curses given in these verses are attached as well. Not only that but if we don’t keep the Sabbath and we are ineed cut off from God and destroyed.

Then these blessings that are given by keeping the Sabbath must also apply to us. Not only that but the curses that we see in the Old Testament must also apply to us as well. Keep this in mind as we see the following verses.

Let’s see another example.

Jeremiah 17:21-25

This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.

God said in this passage that those who keep the Sabbath Jerusalem will forever be inhabited. What blessing is there for us gentiles in this passage? None. God simply said if Israel keeps the Sabbath then the city will be inhabited forever.

Has nothing to do with us. You can make up whatever spiritual meaning you want to see in these verses. However the reality is that it has nothing to do with us specifically.

Let’s see another passage.

Leviticus 26:2-5, 9-13

“‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord. “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

 “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place[a] among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

The bible says that those who observe the Sabbath will be blessed with crops and abundant harvest. The Israelites will be able to eat all that they want and have an abundance, God also said he will grant them peace from their enemies.

Now you might be thinking “Well for us it means we will bear good fruit,” or something like that. Again you make up whatever spiritual meaning you want. But that is not the context here. The Israelites were more worried about food and surviving then they were about preaching and baptism numbers.

In fact the Israelites were not commanded to preach because you were either born a Jew or you weren’t, that’s it. So these blessings are not spiritual or supernatural. God is simply saying that if you keep the Sabbath I will let you eat an abundance of food, you know so Israel could survive and not die out.

I want to reiterate again. You can’t use these verses and say “See the bible says we need to keep the Sabbath.” to then turn around and say “Oh the blessings and curses we see in these verses attached to the command of Sabbath are not applicable.” Then vice versa, if the blessings and curses that we see in the Old Testament don’t apply to us today, then it means the enforcement of the Sabbath doesn’t apply either.

God also promised to give them rest from their enemies that would frequently attack them. You might be thinking “Those who keep the Sabbath will be protected from those who persecute the truth.” Or something along those lines. However, that is not the context here.

The Israelites were not worried about being persecuted during door to door preaching, they were worried about being cut down by the sword of their enemies in the surrounding territories.

Again all the blessings we have seen have only applied to the Israelites and have nothing to do with us today in reality.

One more verse about the blessings the Israelites received from keeping the Sabbath.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

The blessing of keeping the Sabbath is that God will set you high about the nations, the fruit of your womb will be blessed, your crops will be blessed, your livestock and herds will be blessed. Your basket will be blessed, your enemies will be defeated. Your barns will be blessed, God will give you the land He sore to give to you from your ancestors.

Again I ask, do these words apply to us today? These are physical blessings that the Israelites received at that time from God. Do you have crops, livestock and barns? Do you need to defeat your enemy in battle? Did God swear He was going to give you land because He promised your ancestors? No.

This is clearly for the Israelites at that time and doesn’t apply to us today. You might be thinking “We just read we shouldn’t turn aside from God’s commands? By you saying the Sabbath doesn’t apply to us, it would mean that keeping God’s commands doesn’t apply to us either then. Check mate.”

Good point. We will get to that in a minute, don’t worry.

Then what about the curses for breaking the Sabbath, do those apply to us today?

Let’s see.

Leviticus 26:14-26

“‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.

“‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.

“‘If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve.  I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted.

“‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. And I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

So the curse of these commands and laws which obviously includes the Sabbath day is that you will get wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight. You will plant seed in vain because your enemies will come and eat it. Your enemies will defeat you and rule over you.

You will flee when no one is pursuing you. You will not have crops or harvest and sow seed in vain. God will bring the sword down on you. Your supply of bread will be cut off, you will eat and not be satisfied. It appears that the curses of breaking the Sabbath are physical as well.

I don’t know about you but I don’t think these curses are applicable today. Clearly these curses were given to the Israelites living at that time and under those conditions. Not for us gentiles today.

Let’s see another passage really quickly.

Deuteronomy 28:15-29

However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.[a] The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. At midday you will grope about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

Again I ask, do these curses apply to us today? If you don’t keep the Sabbath will your womb be cursed? Will you get diseases such as fever and inflammation? Will you receive scorching heat and drought? Are you going to go to war and be defeated by your enemies? Is your carcass going to be food for birds and wild animals? Will you get tumors, festering sores, itch that has no cure? Will you be blinded, become mad and have confusion of mind? Are you going to grope about at midday like a blind person in the dark?

Now obviously we just read a few verses but the list of curses goes on and on and on.

So if you are implying that the observance of the Sabbath is just as binding as it was in the time of the Israelites. Then it would also mean that the blessings and curses attached to the Israelites observance of the Sabbath are still just as binding today as well.

You can’t use these verses and say “See the bible says we need to keep the Sabbath and it is a matter of blessing or curses.” to then turn around and say “Oh well the blessings and curses we see in these verses attached to the command of observing the Sabbath are not applicable, but the Sabbath still is.” But that is not how it works, if the blessings and curses that we see in these Old Testament verses don’t apply to us today, then it means the enforcement of the Sabbath doesn’t apply either. 

I do want to mention one last thing about the Old Testament Sabbath in regards to Ezekiel 22. Where it talks about false prophets shutting their eyes to keeping of the Sabbath. What else do these false prophets do? They kill people to make unjust gain, they make widows. Now does that apply to false prophets today?

The WMSCOG say “This means kill souls and devote their lives to money.” But that was not the case in ancient Israel, people literally lost their life to false prophets. Also the bible says these false prophets do not distinguish between the clean and unclean.

What is this talking about? It means false prophets in ancient Israel were not abiding by the food regulation of clean and unclean animals. However the food regulation is not binding anymore is it? The food regulation was changed. So these verses don’t really apply to us today as they did in ancient Israel.

I know what you are probably thinking at this point. “Well God gave us the commandments, the 4th commandment is to remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy, are you saying we don’t need to obey the commandments anymore?”

This is a very good point. But we need to have a common understanding before we dissect this. The 10 commandments are God’s commands right? Is it possible for the 10 commandments to be changed? Well let’s see.

Let’s examine for a second the commandments forbidding murder and adultery.

Exodus 20:13-14

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

This is pretty self explanatory. Only if you commit the act of murder, then you have broken the commandments. Only if you commit the act of adultery, then you have broken the commandments as well. Is that the case in the New Testament?

Matthew 5:21-22

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Jesus told us actually if you hate your brother or sister then you will be treated the same as a murderer. Why? Because Jesus is more concerned about what is inside of you rather than a law you can hide behind.

Let me explain. In the 10 commandments as long as you did not commit murder, you were righteous. Meaning you could hate as much as you wanted to and still be considered righteous by the law.

People's hatred could hide behind the law until Jesus exposed what was really inside them. By Jesus saying if you hate then you are just like a murderer, there is nowhere for that person’s character to hide, they couldn’t hide behind the law anymore.

Jesus changed the law about murder right here. He applied the same judgement of murder as to someone who hates. The same is true about adultery.

Matthew 5:27-30

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[e] But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Again Jesus changed the 10 commandments here. In the Old Covenant as long as you didn’t commit the act of adultery you were considered righteous. Meaning you could look at people as lustfully as you wanted as long as you didn’t commit the physical act.

But again Jesus changed it to actually even if you look you are just as guilty as the one who commits the actual act of adultery. Meaning, again, there is no law for your sin to hide behind anymore. Jesus exposes our character. This is why Jesus called them hypocrites, it is because Jesus was teaching them that though they are righteous by the law, they had poor character and were just as guilty as those who broke the law.

Anyways the main point here is that the 10 commandments were modified in the New Testament times. The 10 commandments were changed in the New Testament times. So is it possible for the 4th commandment about the Sabbath to be altered or changed as well? I will let you decide that.

Now about the commandments in the New Testament. Can we find the commandmenet of the Sabbath anywhere in the New Testament? As we have seen God was very adamant and vocal about the Sabbath in the Old Testament.

Is this the case in the New Testament?

John 14:15, 21 & 23

“If you love me, keep my commands.”

 “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

 “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Let’s also see.

John 15:14

You are my friends if you do what I command.

Jesus says over and over if we love Him to obey what He commands. What does He command then?

John 15:10-13

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

I don’t see the Sabbath in this passage. Did you see the Sabbath in these passages? But let’s keep looking.

Matthew 5:19

Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Here we just read that we should not set aside the least of these commands. What are these commands? This is Jesus' word on the sermon of the Mount which starts from the beginning of Matthew chapter 5 to the very end of chapter 7.

Nowhere in the sermon on the Mount do we find God’s command of the Sabbath. You would think that if the Sabbath was so important for our souls that Jesus would have mentioned it at least once. But it is nowhere to be found. 

Meaning the words in Matthew 5:19 about “these commands” have nothing to do with the Sabbath. Now you can imply whatever you want. You could imply “Well Jesus says that those who do the will of God will enter Heaven and Sabbath is clearly the will of God.” or “Narrow gate is the WMSCOG and those who find it keep the Sabbath.”

Ok, fair point. Where are those implications written in scripture? I could imply those who enter the narrow gate are those who give me $1,000 dollars and I have just as much proof to back that up as the WMSCOG who insist those who enter the narrow gate keep Sabbath. Implications are just that, implications. Implications without evidence are subjective to organizations or individuals interpretation.

So let’s just focus on what the scriptures say.

Let’s see some more verses about what God’s commandments are in the New Testament.

Matthew 19:16-19

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’[c] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”

Now Jesus did not mention the Sabbath here, that is a fact. I know the WMSCOG will say “Don’t worship other God’s, don’t make Idol’s and don’t take the Lord’s name in vain wasn’t mentioned either, so that does that mean we can do that?”

No, of course we shouldn’t do that. I just simply mentioned that Jesus didn’t say the Sabbath. But actually Jesus does mention the other commandments. 

Matthew 22:34-40

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Now let’s see this passage from Mark’s perspective also.

Mark 12:28-32

 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

No mention of Sabbath here at all. In fact these are the greatest commands in God’s eyes, far more important than all the burnt offering and sacrifices. Jesus mentions that all of the commandments hang on these two commandments.

This means that Commandments 1-4 are summed up into one, loving God with all your heart, soul and strength. Commandments 5-10 are summed up into loving your neighbor as yourself. Then considering this, it means by loving God and loving your neighbor you are keeping all the commandments.

 Now for the Sabbath to be so important for our salvation in this age, so much so that if you don’t observe it you will be sent to hell. I find the lack of the commands regarding the Sabbath by Jesus in the New Testament shocking.

But let’s see what the apostles say about the commands of God. Maybe they will mention the Sabbath.

Romans 13:8-10

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Here Paul makes the connection. He says all the laws can be summed up by love. If you love then you fulfill the law. Again let’s see 

John 14:15, 21 & 23

“If you love me, keep my commands.”

 “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

 “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

1 John 2:3-5

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Here the WMSCOG loves to use this verse to call Christians “liars” or “fake Christians” who don’t observe the Sabbath like they do. Again I ask where it is written that Jesus commanded Sabbath day or that we needed Sabbath to be saved?

What does this verse actually mean? Well we don’t have to imply anything. Let’s just read the rest of what John was saying.

1 John 2:7-11

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister[b] is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister[c] lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

John says I am not writing a new command but an old one. He also makes the point that this old command is a message the church already heard, yet it is new because they have not put it into practice yet.

Then what is the command John is referring to? It is hating brothers and sisters. The reason this command is not old is because we just read in the book of John a minute ago about Jesus' command about love.

No mention of the Sabbath anywhere in this passage.

If you are not sure, let's see another verse.

1 John 3:11

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

And 

1 John 4:19-21

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

So the commandment John is referencing is love, not the Sabbath. Again this passage, actually if you read the whole book of First John you will find it is entirely about love. It has nothing to do with the Sabbath day.

Let’s see another verse.

1 John 5: 2-3

This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 

Here we see that we need to love God and carry out God’s commands. But as we have just read from John a bunch of times, what are God's commands according to John? It is love, not the Sabbath. If you think it is the Sabbath, then show me through John’s writings that Jesus commands the Sabbath.

Luke 6:46

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

The WMSCOG uses this verse to call out people who don’t keep the Sabbath saying “Only true believers in Jesus keep the Sabbath.” or “If you call Jesus Lord then why don’t you keep the Sabbath like God commanded us?”

Now again I ask you where is that written? You can imply whatever you want, but show me the verse where Jesus commands us to keep the Sabbath day or that we will not be saved if we don’t observe Sabbath day.

Read the whole context of Luke 6 and show me where Jesus enforces the Sabbath. Now you might be thinking “Well Jesus himself kept the Sabbath.” So we should do just like Him if we are Christian.” Fair point, not let's annalyze. 

Luke 6:1-7

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.

In the Passage we just read, was Jesus commanding the Sabbath? No, but it is true He was keeping the Sabbath. We can also see this same sort of thing occurring in Luke 4:16 where the bible teaches it was His custom to keep the Sabbath day.

So it is 100% true that Jesus kept the Sabbath. Then why? Simply because He was Jewish. Now I know you are thinking “So Jesus is just some Jew then?” No, He is almighty God. Then let’s see why Jesus kept the law. 

Galatians 4:3-5

So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces[a] of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship

According to Apostle Paul the reason Jesus kept the Old Covenant Law was because He was a Jew. That is why He kepth the Sabbath and the Feasts. That is a biblical fact.

But let’s follow the argument. Everything Jesus did in His life we should put into practice right? Well Jesus was circumcised Luke 1:22-24 and Jesus kept Hannukah which is an 8 day winter festival in John 10:22-23. So will you then insist for us to be Christian we must also be circumcised and keep Hannukah? I don’t think so.

Now you might be resorting at this point to “Well Sabbath is still the will of God in the New Testament.” Fair point, you are probably referring to Matthew 7:21-23 about those who do and don’t do the will of God. Then let’s examine what the will of God is in the New Testament.

John 6:28-29

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Here we don’t see that the will of God is Sabbath in the New Testament. But let’s keep checking.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God.

No Sabbath in God’s will here.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

No Sabbath here either.

1 Peter 2:13-17

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

Again there is no mention of the Sabbath being the will of God.

So far we have seen that the regulations of the Sabbath and the blessings and curses attached to the Sabbath do not apply to us today. The commands of God referenced in the New Testament do not mention the Sabbath anywhere.

The will of God as we have just seen does not mention the Sabbath. So if Sabbath is the way to go to heaven and that not keeping sends us to hell, it is shockingly absent from the scriptures.

Click here for part two.