Sabbath Day Is On Saturday From Creation, Christians Changed It To Sunday Erroneously? Is That Right?
Question: Would you please address the doctrine of the Sabbath being only on Saturday! For the sake of young Christians from being confused in Amercia where, we who have the Church on Sunday have been called pagan. I believe that is not right, because we are losing our identity as Christians and are latching on to a unbiblical Jewish identity that places a yoke on many of us who try to adhere to it. In fact, I felt we are going backwards and not forward as Christian doing these things. Can you see the problem in it?
Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name!
The very word Sabbath does come from the Hebrew verb 'Sabat' which means 'to stop, to cease, or to keep.' Its theological meaning is rooted in God's rest following the six days of creation (Gen 2:2-3).
What was the reason God rested, was he tired of creating everthing on six days that he wanted rest apart from which he could not create further because of strengthlessness?
The Bible answers this question saying, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become tired or grow weary; There is no searching of His understanding." (Isa 40:28, AMP).
So from the above we can clearly know that God rested for a reason other than tiredness as he never gets tired at all no matter what. Jesus answered so clearly about Sabbath to describe the purpose for which Sabbath came in to existence by saying, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27). So the day of Sabbath was created for humans to take rest and it was not for God, but he was involved in that rest as he wanted to have fellowship and intimacy with humans who were created in his image, so that he could srengthen them to fulfill His purpose for their lives.
For 5 days God created all other things conducive for the survival of man, but on the sixth day God created animals the companion of man and also atlast man and the woman for whom all things were made, so humans were the crown Jewel of God's creation (Gen 2:20-25; ). In fact, the first day after creation for humans is the Sabbath day of rest. God wanted humans to take rest first in fellowship and intimacy with Him (Gen 3:8), and out of that spritiual supernatural strength that gets recharged in them, he wanted them to work for Him the rest of the six days (Gen 2:2-3).
Hence the Bible reveals, "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Gen 2:2-3), God blessed the Seventh day specifically and seperated it to become holy and set apart so that humans could realize that God was waiting for them on this day to talk with them, walk with them hand in hand and experience their love and fellowship with which He would be able to recharge them with the blessings of His Divine Wisdom and guidance and love for the rest of the week.
Even before giving the law of Moses to people, we see God insisting them and reminding them one of the most important law to keep because it relates to the very purpose of his creation, " 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exod 20:8-11). This was the fourth of the tenth commandments that God gave for his people to keep through Moses. Thus we come to understand that "on the seventh day" no one should work which includes stranger and cattle within the gates of His people. Thus the reason God blessed the seventh day and set it apart from the rest of the week is to make humans realize their need for fellowship with God, apart from which, the reason for their existence will become blurred to make them purposeless and vague in living life as a routine.
The religious people who worked their way through their labor to please God actually made people to carry heavy load that they themselves were not able to carry, thus bringing a meaning to life that man was made for Sabbath to keep it holy and please God through it (Acts 15:10; Mark 2:27), when the real purpose for Sabbath is that it was made for humans so that they could rest in faith and have time to think about God and have fellowship with Him, so that they could live a specially blessed life for the rest of the week in God's strength.
The Jews still consider and keep the Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening, as the Jewish day starts from the evening and continue in the morning to become one whole day at the end of the next sunset, so a day starts from sunset and ends with the next sunset (Gen 1:5; Matt 28:1).
So we know that the Jews have kept the Sabbath from the day of creation to the present time only on friday evening to the saturday evening.
Then why we Christians are keeping it on Sunday?
Here it is, the Jews keep the Law of the letter given through Moses, but the Christians keep it on Sunday by the Law of the Spirit who appointed it because it was the day of the risen Lord Jesus Christ who rose on it (Rev 1:10), which is always acceptable to God as it is kept in the spirit (John 1:17). In other words, God brought a new law of life through grace (Rom 6:14; 8:2), that superseded the power of the law of the letter which is called as law of sin and death. In other words, the letter and law of Moses kills the life of God as it demands holiness without giving humans the power to keep it, but thank God, the law of life gives us life everlasting through the Spirit of God and He helps us keep the law of God that comes to us moment by moment in our spirit (John 4:22-24). So what the Lord has taught about the Sabbath day the Jews have kept it from the time the law of Moses was given to them through him, but now a hour has come that the true worshipers of God have started to worship Him in their spirit within, and the truth of it that has been revealed through Jesus Christ. Now God Himself as the Father of all is seeking only such worshipers to worship Him as God Himself is Spirit to us who is withus and in us and upon us (John 14:17; 1:8), and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth only.
In other words, the Christians no more believe in the letter of the law like the Jews who keep the law by their strength to please God (2 Cor 3:6), but rather by the law of the Spirit who guides them to keep the law of the Spirit which is the direct instructions that comes to them from the Lord through the Word of God and not apart from them like Jesus was guided by the law of the Spirit (Heb 8:11; Jer 31:34; Matt 4:4; Luk 4:4; 1 John 2:27). In fact, if you take the letter of the Law, Jesus intentionally broke the letter many times by healing on the Sabbath and did not keep it by the letter but by the law of the Spirit of life.
These are the perfect 7 instances in which Jesus Christ our Lord broke the law of the letter on Sabbath, but by being directed by the Spirit kept the law of the Spirit which superceded the law of sin and death (Rom 13:14; Gal 5:16, 18), Jesus healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31), Jesus healed a man with a withered hand (Mark 3:1-6), Jesus healed a man born blind (John 9:1-16), Jesus healed a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17), Jesus healed a man with dropsy (Luke 14:1-6), Jesus drove out an evil spirit (Mark 1:21-28) and Jesus healed a lame man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18). Whenever we hear of Jesus entering a synagogue or leaving it, it must be a day of Sabbath which is Friday evening sundown to Saturday evening sundown which is 24 hours time. On that day the Jews will gather in the Synagogue and will read the Scriptures corporately and will also pray corporately. Then the law will be discussed and communicated through a sermon within it for edification to the hearers of it. Once it is over, they will leave the synagogue and keep the law they have learned for the rest of the week.
Since we as Christians are living by the Spirit, we have been instructed to follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives so that we can continue to remain free from the law of the letter which says if we sin we will die, even though if we keep the whole law and fail in just one commandment it is as though we have failed keeping it in the right way altogether (Gal 5:25; Rom 8:2; 6:23; Jam 2:10). Any person who keeps the whole law and fails in just one commandment is guilty of breaking all the law, therefore we come to understand that the law of the letter was given by God to make us be convicted of sin and keep us from transgression until we receive Christ, and also until Christ is formed in us (Gal 3:19; Rom 7:7, 13; Gal 3:24-25, 4:19). So Sabbath keeping is the only law that has not been repeated by the apostles in the New Testament, because of being led by the law of the Spirit of life.
It is the same with Jesus who never repeated it for his disciples and never insisted on keeping it by the letter of the law even one time, instead he defended his disciples when they broke the letter of the law for the law of faith to be kept (Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5).
Why did Jesus Christ who did not break even one law of God in his whole life, to have no sin and did no sin, did break the law of the letter?
He did it to show to people that He is the Lord of Sabbath and that Man was not made for Sabbath, but rather Sabbath was made for Man (Mark 2:27-28). In other words, Jesus the Christ our Lord and Savior being the very Creator (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3), He is the One who created the Sabbath by resting on it and he has the right to instruct his creations to keep it the way he wants (Genesis 2:2-3).
That means, what is the way Jesus wants his new creations to keep the Sabbath then (2 Cor 5:17)? He wants us Christians to keep the Sabbath in the new and living way which is a perpetual Sabbath of internal joy in the Lord and peace in Him always at all times no matter what circumstances or feelings we go through (Heb 4:9-11; Matt 11:28-30; Luke 9:23-26; 1 Thess 5:16-18; Php 4:4). This internal rest is the new living way Jesus has consecrated for us through his holy sinless work, which was accepted by God the Father in heaven, which gives us the right to enter the holy of holies in heaven through his name and faith in his name through our spirit within any moment any time any place (Heb 10:20; 2 Cor 3:6; Rom 6:4; John 4:24). Hallelujah!
So unlike the Jews who still keep the external Sabbath, the Christians are supposed to keep the Sabbath internally all the time for the Glory of God. So Sabbath day for Christians is not just on Sunday because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus on that day which made the first century Christians to gather together on that day, but should be extending in to all the days of the week internally. In short, Christians can keep a day of rest officially on any days of the week specially to meditate on the Word of God and gather together to worship the Lord and pray both corporately and privately to keep it for the Glory of God.
For example, Christianity is not just a national religion like the Jewish religion, but it is a global religion in all the countries of the world which includes the nation of Israel (Matt 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49). So what about the Christians living in Saudi or UAE, as they do have leave or rest day from work on friday as it is a Islamic country? Yes they can worship the Lord Jesus on Friday and celebrate it as the Sabbath day. What about the Christians who live in the nation of Israel? Yes they can keep the Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening as that is the day where they will be able to gather together to worship the Lord Jesus without any hindrance. What about all other countries Christians and non-Christians have the Roman calender Sunday as the one day day-off officially for the work week? These Christians can gather on Sundays just like the apostles did, and celebrate the Sabbath day on the Lord's day because they too were under the Roman calender.
We strive as Christians not to enter the Sabbath day rest of one day with God and six days of work like in the Old Testament times, but we strive to enter in to the perpetual rest of Christ's righteousness, joy and peace that He has bought for us by paying it with his own life on the Cross (Rom 10:17; 1 Cor 1:30-31; 2 Cor 10:17), so that we who believe Him can remain in that spiritual rest as we strive to enter in to it for the rest of our life through our humility and meekness (Matt 11:29-30; Jam 4:4-8). This internal rest in our soul is the Canaan land of milk and honey that God has promised to give us spiritually if we strive to enter it diligently by faith like Joshua and Caleb did by believing the promises of God given to us through the Bible. This place of rest is where no sinful and demonic giants of Canaan that brings slavery and curses in to our lives are slain by the power of God through the Armor of God worn by faith (Eph 6:10-20; Rom 6:14). This is true Sabbath for us Christians which is totally internal to our life and living, and not external like for the Jews who keep the Sabbath from sun down Friday evening to Saturday sun down evening.
So the bottom line is, Christians have not changed the Jewish Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, but rather they have kept the Sabbath day as the Lord's Resurrection day not to keep it with the letter of the Law like the Jews, but with the law of the Spirit which means to remember the resurrection of Jesus forever, they appointed the available day of Sunday which was a holiday throughout the Roman Empire during those times to, edify one another and fellowship with one another so that they could together grow spiritually to glorify God together and collect treasures in heaven (Heb 10:25). Even that was not a law to keep as Christ is the end of all law for righteousness (Rom 10:4), but rather it was a principle agreed upon through mutual agreement in the Spirit for the Glory of God that has been kept ever since (Acts 15:22-29).
In the Old Testament times, the Jews tried to spread and prosetelyse through the law throughout the world without ever keeping it perfectly in their own lives which made them hypocrites and they all came severly under the rebuke of Jesus especially the religious class of his times who thought that they were righteous before God just because they kept the law of the letter to the smallest dots (Matt 23:15, 23, 26-27; John 5;39; Rom 2:1, 17-24). For the first time in history, the nation of Israel has come legitimately and prophetically in these end times, and the Christians of America who want to blindly think that whatever Jewish is right, they have made the mistake of first century Messianic Christians who got saved by faith and wanted to perfect themselves through keeping the law and the sabbaths and the feasts, the same rebuke of Paul the apostle still stands, "O Foolish Christians, you who have been saved by faith, how you can even think that you can become perfected by works of the law?" (Gal 3:3, Paraphrased).
The Jewish nation needs a revival and restoration to turn to the Lord and it will happen as prophecied by Jesus at the coming of the Lord for a thousand years reign (Psa 118:26; Matt 23:39; Rom 11:26-27; Zech 12:10-11). Until that time a great deception will come upon them to keep the law of the letter like never before, and also they will try in their pride to belittle the good news of Jesus Christ and persecute the Christians openly driven by the spirit of Antichrist (Rev 3:9-10), and it is prophetic that Christians are slowly losing their own identity and are being deceived by turning away from the simple gospel of Christ that has brought justification and life eternal to us all through the precious work of Christ on the cross (2 Cor 11:2-4). So we as Christians should not get involved very much in to political support for Israel and lose the spiritual identity of our own selves as Christians. We should balance our preference for political support based on how well we are able to promote the Gospel and the freedom to spread it, and not based on blind belief that the Jews are more favored than the gentile nations of the world. In fact, they are truly favored among the nations of the world, but the one nation that stands above it is the Church of the living God (Matt 21:43), the pillar and ground of the truth where in the name of Jesus every knee should bow in the Spiritual world which rules the physical world of people (1 Tim 3:15-16; Php 2:9-11; Acts 19:11-20). Hallelujah! Amen.
A Christian should never go backwards by trying to become a Jew which is impossible as it is by birth or even relate with a Jew to become a proselyte to receive earthly blessings, but through belief we as Christians should understand that the Church will rule this present earth through the nation of Israel under it from the New Earth and New Heaven for a thousand years time, after which the people who are saved at that time of the end of all things will get resurrected at the end before the white throne judgment and will come to live with the Church in its eternal glory (2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev 3:7-13; 20:7-15; 21:22-23, 24-26). Glory to God! Hallelujah!
The Church is now seated in the heavenlies with Christ, and therefore it needs to be faithful to the Lord in order to stand tall in the end times without being deceived by the message of works and all inter-religious works of all religious faith which is being promoted in all the world by the spirit of Antichrist (Eph 1:20-23; 2:5-7; 1 Cor 15:33). Watch and pray till the rapture takes place, is the humble and specific command and request made by the Lord to his church to overcome deception of the end time and the falling away from the faith through works based peace and safety message of the end that will be promoted by Antichrist (2 Thess 2:3; 1 Thess 5:3; 4:14-18). To be a meditative Christian of the prophetic Scripture and through it continuing to be a prayerful Christian will be the key to be a true Christian of the end times.
A true Christian is humble and meek like Jesus Christ at heart, but in reality he is above the Jew in the spiritual realm which influences this physical realm (Matt 11:28-30; Acts 19:13-15; Gal 3:7, 26-29; Eph 6:15-16). The true Israel of God are only those sons of God who are saved by faith, the rest even though they might be Jews will end up in hell fire if not saved by faith (Matt 8:12). The law is only a school master that tries to teach the student of its class to choose Christ which is the end of all, but the keeping the law will never save a single human and it is by faith in the Scripture alone, in Christ alone, through grace alone for the glory of God alone that all humans can be saved for eternity! That is why the Church of the end will stand uniquely with this message if it understands the real standing where it is placed in Christ, and thus Sabbath keeping comes in the category of keeping the law and is not of faith (Gal 3:12). It can never be entertained as a law, but it can be kept as a principle of life to rest like God rested one day out of seven days to be rejuvenated spiritually, physically, socially, soulishly and financially to face the world for the next six days by the strength of God working through us. But the Sabbath day cannot be kept as a law but only in the spirit (Col 2:16-23; Rom 14:6, 7-8), as the first testmant is becoming obsolete and growing old day by day to vanish away for ever because the new testament has been introduced already to the Church and through it, it will be introduced to the nation of Israel for the Millenium rule of Jesus Christ along with the Church, and then to the whole world through the nation of Israel (Heb 8:11-13; Jer 31:33; Zec 14:9; Isa 2:3; Mic 4:2). Glory!!! Hallelujah!
Much Blessings....
Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name!
The very word Sabbath does come from the Hebrew verb 'Sabat' which means 'to stop, to cease, or to keep.' Its theological meaning is rooted in God's rest following the six days of creation (Gen 2:2-3).
What was the reason God rested, was he tired of creating everthing on six days that he wanted rest apart from which he could not create further because of strengthlessness?
The Bible answers this question saying, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become tired or grow weary; There is no searching of His understanding." (Isa 40:28, AMP).
So from the above we can clearly know that God rested for a reason other than tiredness as he never gets tired at all no matter what. Jesus answered so clearly about Sabbath to describe the purpose for which Sabbath came in to existence by saying, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27). So the day of Sabbath was created for humans to take rest and it was not for God, but he was involved in that rest as he wanted to have fellowship and intimacy with humans who were created in his image, so that he could srengthen them to fulfill His purpose for their lives.
For 5 days God created all other things conducive for the survival of man, but on the sixth day God created animals the companion of man and also atlast man and the woman for whom all things were made, so humans were the crown Jewel of God's creation (Gen 2:20-25; ). In fact, the first day after creation for humans is the Sabbath day of rest. God wanted humans to take rest first in fellowship and intimacy with Him (Gen 3:8), and out of that spritiual supernatural strength that gets recharged in them, he wanted them to work for Him the rest of the six days (Gen 2:2-3).
Hence the Bible reveals, "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Gen 2:2-3), God blessed the Seventh day specifically and seperated it to become holy and set apart so that humans could realize that God was waiting for them on this day to talk with them, walk with them hand in hand and experience their love and fellowship with which He would be able to recharge them with the blessings of His Divine Wisdom and guidance and love for the rest of the week.
Even before giving the law of Moses to people, we see God insisting them and reminding them one of the most important law to keep because it relates to the very purpose of his creation, " 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exod 20:8-11). This was the fourth of the tenth commandments that God gave for his people to keep through Moses. Thus we come to understand that "on the seventh day" no one should work which includes stranger and cattle within the gates of His people. Thus the reason God blessed the seventh day and set it apart from the rest of the week is to make humans realize their need for fellowship with God, apart from which, the reason for their existence will become blurred to make them purposeless and vague in living life as a routine.
The religious people who worked their way through their labor to please God actually made people to carry heavy load that they themselves were not able to carry, thus bringing a meaning to life that man was made for Sabbath to keep it holy and please God through it (Acts 15:10; Mark 2:27), when the real purpose for Sabbath is that it was made for humans so that they could rest in faith and have time to think about God and have fellowship with Him, so that they could live a specially blessed life for the rest of the week in God's strength.
Jews Or Christians, Who Is Right?
The Jews still consider and keep the Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening, as the Jewish day starts from the evening and continue in the morning to become one whole day at the end of the next sunset, so a day starts from sunset and ends with the next sunset (Gen 1:5; Matt 28:1).
So we know that the Jews have kept the Sabbath from the day of creation to the present time only on friday evening to the saturday evening.
Then why we Christians are keeping it on Sunday?
Here it is, the Jews keep the Law of the letter given through Moses, but the Christians keep it on Sunday by the Law of the Spirit who appointed it because it was the day of the risen Lord Jesus Christ who rose on it (Rev 1:10), which is always acceptable to God as it is kept in the spirit (John 1:17). In other words, God brought a new law of life through grace (Rom 6:14; 8:2), that superseded the power of the law of the letter which is called as law of sin and death. In other words, the letter and law of Moses kills the life of God as it demands holiness without giving humans the power to keep it, but thank God, the law of life gives us life everlasting through the Spirit of God and He helps us keep the law of God that comes to us moment by moment in our spirit (John 4:22-24). So what the Lord has taught about the Sabbath day the Jews have kept it from the time the law of Moses was given to them through him, but now a hour has come that the true worshipers of God have started to worship Him in their spirit within, and the truth of it that has been revealed through Jesus Christ. Now God Himself as the Father of all is seeking only such worshipers to worship Him as God Himself is Spirit to us who is withus and in us and upon us (John 14:17; 1:8), and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth only.
In other words, the Christians no more believe in the letter of the law like the Jews who keep the law by their strength to please God (2 Cor 3:6), but rather by the law of the Spirit who guides them to keep the law of the Spirit which is the direct instructions that comes to them from the Lord through the Word of God and not apart from them like Jesus was guided by the law of the Spirit (Heb 8:11; Jer 31:34; Matt 4:4; Luk 4:4; 1 John 2:27). In fact, if you take the letter of the Law, Jesus intentionally broke the letter many times by healing on the Sabbath and did not keep it by the letter but by the law of the Spirit of life.
These are the perfect 7 instances in which Jesus Christ our Lord broke the law of the letter on Sabbath, but by being directed by the Spirit kept the law of the Spirit which superceded the law of sin and death (Rom 13:14; Gal 5:16, 18), Jesus healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31), Jesus healed a man with a withered hand (Mark 3:1-6), Jesus healed a man born blind (John 9:1-16), Jesus healed a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17), Jesus healed a man with dropsy (Luke 14:1-6), Jesus drove out an evil spirit (Mark 1:21-28) and Jesus healed a lame man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18). Whenever we hear of Jesus entering a synagogue or leaving it, it must be a day of Sabbath which is Friday evening sundown to Saturday evening sundown which is 24 hours time. On that day the Jews will gather in the Synagogue and will read the Scriptures corporately and will also pray corporately. Then the law will be discussed and communicated through a sermon within it for edification to the hearers of it. Once it is over, they will leave the synagogue and keep the law they have learned for the rest of the week.
Live By The Spirit, Not By The Law!
Since we as Christians are living by the Spirit, we have been instructed to follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives so that we can continue to remain free from the law of the letter which says if we sin we will die, even though if we keep the whole law and fail in just one commandment it is as though we have failed keeping it in the right way altogether (Gal 5:25; Rom 8:2; 6:23; Jam 2:10). Any person who keeps the whole law and fails in just one commandment is guilty of breaking all the law, therefore we come to understand that the law of the letter was given by God to make us be convicted of sin and keep us from transgression until we receive Christ, and also until Christ is formed in us (Gal 3:19; Rom 7:7, 13; Gal 3:24-25, 4:19). So Sabbath keeping is the only law that has not been repeated by the apostles in the New Testament, because of being led by the law of the Spirit of life.
It is the same with Jesus who never repeated it for his disciples and never insisted on keeping it by the letter of the law even one time, instead he defended his disciples when they broke the letter of the law for the law of faith to be kept (Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5).
Why did Jesus Christ who did not break even one law of God in his whole life, to have no sin and did no sin, did break the law of the letter?
He did it to show to people that He is the Lord of Sabbath and that Man was not made for Sabbath, but rather Sabbath was made for Man (Mark 2:27-28). In other words, Jesus the Christ our Lord and Savior being the very Creator (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3), He is the One who created the Sabbath by resting on it and he has the right to instruct his creations to keep it the way he wants (Genesis 2:2-3).
That means, what is the way Jesus wants his new creations to keep the Sabbath then (2 Cor 5:17)? He wants us Christians to keep the Sabbath in the new and living way which is a perpetual Sabbath of internal joy in the Lord and peace in Him always at all times no matter what circumstances or feelings we go through (Heb 4:9-11; Matt 11:28-30; Luke 9:23-26; 1 Thess 5:16-18; Php 4:4). This internal rest is the new living way Jesus has consecrated for us through his holy sinless work, which was accepted by God the Father in heaven, which gives us the right to enter the holy of holies in heaven through his name and faith in his name through our spirit within any moment any time any place (Heb 10:20; 2 Cor 3:6; Rom 6:4; John 4:24). Hallelujah!
So unlike the Jews who still keep the external Sabbath, the Christians are supposed to keep the Sabbath internally all the time for the Glory of God. So Sabbath day for Christians is not just on Sunday because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus on that day which made the first century Christians to gather together on that day, but should be extending in to all the days of the week internally. In short, Christians can keep a day of rest officially on any days of the week specially to meditate on the Word of God and gather together to worship the Lord and pray both corporately and privately to keep it for the Glory of God.
For example, Christianity is not just a national religion like the Jewish religion, but it is a global religion in all the countries of the world which includes the nation of Israel (Matt 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49). So what about the Christians living in Saudi or UAE, as they do have leave or rest day from work on friday as it is a Islamic country? Yes they can worship the Lord Jesus on Friday and celebrate it as the Sabbath day. What about the Christians who live in the nation of Israel? Yes they can keep the Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening as that is the day where they will be able to gather together to worship the Lord Jesus without any hindrance. What about all other countries Christians and non-Christians have the Roman calender Sunday as the one day day-off officially for the work week? These Christians can gather on Sundays just like the apostles did, and celebrate the Sabbath day on the Lord's day because they too were under the Roman calender.
We strive as Christians not to enter the Sabbath day rest of one day with God and six days of work like in the Old Testament times, but we strive to enter in to the perpetual rest of Christ's righteousness, joy and peace that He has bought for us by paying it with his own life on the Cross (Rom 10:17; 1 Cor 1:30-31; 2 Cor 10:17), so that we who believe Him can remain in that spiritual rest as we strive to enter in to it for the rest of our life through our humility and meekness (Matt 11:29-30; Jam 4:4-8). This internal rest in our soul is the Canaan land of milk and honey that God has promised to give us spiritually if we strive to enter it diligently by faith like Joshua and Caleb did by believing the promises of God given to us through the Bible. This place of rest is where no sinful and demonic giants of Canaan that brings slavery and curses in to our lives are slain by the power of God through the Armor of God worn by faith (Eph 6:10-20; Rom 6:14). This is true Sabbath for us Christians which is totally internal to our life and living, and not external like for the Jews who keep the Sabbath from sun down Friday evening to Saturday sun down evening.
So the bottom line is, Christians have not changed the Jewish Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, but rather they have kept the Sabbath day as the Lord's Resurrection day not to keep it with the letter of the Law like the Jews, but with the law of the Spirit which means to remember the resurrection of Jesus forever, they appointed the available day of Sunday which was a holiday throughout the Roman Empire during those times to, edify one another and fellowship with one another so that they could together grow spiritually to glorify God together and collect treasures in heaven (Heb 10:25). Even that was not a law to keep as Christ is the end of all law for righteousness (Rom 10:4), but rather it was a principle agreed upon through mutual agreement in the Spirit for the Glory of God that has been kept ever since (Acts 15:22-29).
Be A Christian Of The New Testament, And Not Try To Become A Jew Of The Old Testament
In the Old Testament times, the Jews tried to spread and prosetelyse through the law throughout the world without ever keeping it perfectly in their own lives which made them hypocrites and they all came severly under the rebuke of Jesus especially the religious class of his times who thought that they were righteous before God just because they kept the law of the letter to the smallest dots (Matt 23:15, 23, 26-27; John 5;39; Rom 2:1, 17-24). For the first time in history, the nation of Israel has come legitimately and prophetically in these end times, and the Christians of America who want to blindly think that whatever Jewish is right, they have made the mistake of first century Messianic Christians who got saved by faith and wanted to perfect themselves through keeping the law and the sabbaths and the feasts, the same rebuke of Paul the apostle still stands, "O Foolish Christians, you who have been saved by faith, how you can even think that you can become perfected by works of the law?" (Gal 3:3, Paraphrased).
The Jewish nation needs a revival and restoration to turn to the Lord and it will happen as prophecied by Jesus at the coming of the Lord for a thousand years reign (Psa 118:26; Matt 23:39; Rom 11:26-27; Zech 12:10-11). Until that time a great deception will come upon them to keep the law of the letter like never before, and also they will try in their pride to belittle the good news of Jesus Christ and persecute the Christians openly driven by the spirit of Antichrist (Rev 3:9-10), and it is prophetic that Christians are slowly losing their own identity and are being deceived by turning away from the simple gospel of Christ that has brought justification and life eternal to us all through the precious work of Christ on the cross (2 Cor 11:2-4). So we as Christians should not get involved very much in to political support for Israel and lose the spiritual identity of our own selves as Christians. We should balance our preference for political support based on how well we are able to promote the Gospel and the freedom to spread it, and not based on blind belief that the Jews are more favored than the gentile nations of the world. In fact, they are truly favored among the nations of the world, but the one nation that stands above it is the Church of the living God (Matt 21:43), the pillar and ground of the truth where in the name of Jesus every knee should bow in the Spiritual world which rules the physical world of people (1 Tim 3:15-16; Php 2:9-11; Acts 19:11-20). Hallelujah! Amen.
A Christian should never go backwards by trying to become a Jew which is impossible as it is by birth or even relate with a Jew to become a proselyte to receive earthly blessings, but through belief we as Christians should understand that the Church will rule this present earth through the nation of Israel under it from the New Earth and New Heaven for a thousand years time, after which the people who are saved at that time of the end of all things will get resurrected at the end before the white throne judgment and will come to live with the Church in its eternal glory (2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev 3:7-13; 20:7-15; 21:22-23, 24-26). Glory to God! Hallelujah!
The Church is now seated in the heavenlies with Christ, and therefore it needs to be faithful to the Lord in order to stand tall in the end times without being deceived by the message of works and all inter-religious works of all religious faith which is being promoted in all the world by the spirit of Antichrist (Eph 1:20-23; 2:5-7; 1 Cor 15:33). Watch and pray till the rapture takes place, is the humble and specific command and request made by the Lord to his church to overcome deception of the end time and the falling away from the faith through works based peace and safety message of the end that will be promoted by Antichrist (2 Thess 2:3; 1 Thess 5:3; 4:14-18). To be a meditative Christian of the prophetic Scripture and through it continuing to be a prayerful Christian will be the key to be a true Christian of the end times.
A true Christian is humble and meek like Jesus Christ at heart, but in reality he is above the Jew in the spiritual realm which influences this physical realm (Matt 11:28-30; Acts 19:13-15; Gal 3:7, 26-29; Eph 6:15-16). The true Israel of God are only those sons of God who are saved by faith, the rest even though they might be Jews will end up in hell fire if not saved by faith (Matt 8:12). The law is only a school master that tries to teach the student of its class to choose Christ which is the end of all, but the keeping the law will never save a single human and it is by faith in the Scripture alone, in Christ alone, through grace alone for the glory of God alone that all humans can be saved for eternity! That is why the Church of the end will stand uniquely with this message if it understands the real standing where it is placed in Christ, and thus Sabbath keeping comes in the category of keeping the law and is not of faith (Gal 3:12). It can never be entertained as a law, but it can be kept as a principle of life to rest like God rested one day out of seven days to be rejuvenated spiritually, physically, socially, soulishly and financially to face the world for the next six days by the strength of God working through us. But the Sabbath day cannot be kept as a law but only in the spirit (Col 2:16-23; Rom 14:6, 7-8), as the first testmant is becoming obsolete and growing old day by day to vanish away for ever because the new testament has been introduced already to the Church and through it, it will be introduced to the nation of Israel for the Millenium rule of Jesus Christ along with the Church, and then to the whole world through the nation of Israel (Heb 8:11-13; Jer 31:33; Zec 14:9; Isa 2:3; Mic 4:2). Glory!!! Hallelujah!
Much Blessings....
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment