Doctrine Matters

The truth will set you free


Must Christians Keep The Sabbath?


Throughout the Old Testament God stresses again and again and again and again that they were to observe the Sabbath.

In the New Testament there is not a single command to observe the Sabbath.

It’s very obvious that something changed. And that something is a new covenant.

Paul and Peter make it clear Gentile converts to Christianity were not held to the law of Moses.

When Jesus Christ brought in the New Covenant, it was to replace the old. The old covenant was a covenant established with the Jewish people. The new Covenant is offered not only to Jews, but to all. The covenant ministered to by priests from the tribe of Levi was now replaced with one priest, the “high priest of our confession” who is not of the tribe of Levi. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah.


THE NEW COVENANT


“In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete.
Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
Hebrews 8:13

The Levitical covenant ended with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The law to observe the Sabbath is not once mentioned in the New Testament. And to make it clear, before that generation passed the Temple was destroyed. If one wants to keep the Sabbath, he must keep all the laws of the Levitical covenant, including the sacrifices. The law to keep the Sabbath was no more important than the laws demanding blood sacrifices. Both are done away with in the New Covenant. If one wants to keep the law, he has to keep it “in all things.”

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse;
for it is written, ‘CURSED is everyone who does not continue
IN ALL THINGS which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’”
Galatians 3:10


Believers have been set free from the law. They have the freedom to choose what to observe.
Not by law. But by choice:


“One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be
fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he
who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the
Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and
gives God thanks.” Romans 14:5-6


This subject was brought to the Apostles when a disagreement came up:

THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL:


“Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words,
unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law’ —to whom
we gave no such commandment…”
Acts 15:24

vs 28-29:
“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than
these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things
strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well:

. from things offered to idols
. from blood
. from things strangled
. from sexual immorality”

So whether or not to keep the Sabbath is a matter of choice. Be convinced in your heart and then observe it or not observe it as unto the Lord.