As discussed yesterday, Christians do not have to keep the letter of the law. As we saw in 2 Corinthians chapter three, the Old Covenant is "done away with," and "abolished."

I ended yesterday's article with this:

"What commandments is the Christian under? There are only two:

'Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.' -Matthew 22:37-14

'And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.' -1John 2:3

What are 'His commandments?' They are:

'And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.' -1John 3:23

By following these two commandments, (believe on the name of Christ, and love one another) the Christian is automatically keeping all of the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath commandment, without having to keep the Seventh Day Sabbath, which was of the Law. Confused? Don't be. I'll explain this in the next part of this series."

It's easy to see how the two above commandments can cover all of the Ten Commandments, but what of the Sabbath? The Sabbath was given as an Eternal thing, never to be over. Christians keep the Sabbath, regardless if they know it or not. Let me show you...

On the seventh day of creation, God rested from His work, and in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, we have the Ten Commandments, of which one of those commandments tells us to also rest on the seventh day, as God did, and this is the Sabbath.

Most Christians generally go to church on Sunday, which is the first day of the week. Sunday is not the Sabbath, nor did it take the Sabbath's place. Sunday is "the Lord's Day," not the Sabbath. New Testament Christians keep both the Lord's Day, and the Sabbath.

Under the Old Covenant, Sabbath was the seventh day rest. Have you ever wondered why God's people were commanded to rest each seventh day? Why couldn't they just rest when they were tired? How was resting every Saturday holy? Because of what it represented. It represented the coming Messiah, and the future coming of New Jerusalem.

People will tell me that we should keep the Seventh Day Sabbath because Jesus kept it. This is not a good argument, because Jesus was born of the Law, and was to keep the Law. Until Jesus' death and resurrection, the Old Covenant of the Law still stood. It was through Jesus' death that the Old Covenant was fulfilled, and the New Covenant began. We are alive after Jesus' death and resurrection.

What did Jesus say about His relationship to the Sabbath?

"And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Luke 6:5

This is one of Jesus' claims to deity. Only God is Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is God, and God came up with the Sabbath commandment, so who would know better about keeping the Sabbath than Jesus? And how did Jesus keep the Sabbath? Why, he was out walking, picking and eating grain, healing people, spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom, etc.

After Jesus' death and resurrection, the New Covenant was opened to us. We now have access to God directly through Christ, and no longer need to go through the priests of the Old Testament. This is why the Biblical Christian church has no priests. They are no longer needed, as the book of Hebrews tells us very exclusively that Jesus alone is our high priest, forever, "after the order of Melchizedek."

If you were to take the time to look up every one of the Ten Commandments in the New Testament, you'll see that ALL of them are reiterated in the New Testament, except for the Sabbath. This used to really bother me when I was a Seventh Day Baptist.

Guess what? The Sabbath is mentioned in the New Testament in regards to it's command, but not in the way I thought. I didn't see it, because it didn't look like the picture I had in my head.

The Seventh Day Sabbath was only to be kept until one entered the eternal Rest, which is the eternal Sabbath, or the "eternal seventh day rest," if you will. The Israelites could have entered this rest, and therefore wouldn't have to keep the seventh day anymore, but they couldn't "because of their unbelief:"

"O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest." -Psalm 95:6-11

Another chance to fulfill the Sabbath came when Jesus came to this earth, and paid for our sins. Now we enter the eternal Sabbath rest of God through Christ:

"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus [This the the Greek form of Joshua, referring to Joshua in the Old Testament, not Jesus the Messiah] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." -Hebrews 4:1-11

We enter the eternal Sabbath rest when we enter eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30

The complete fulfillment of the Sabbath rest will be when the Kingdom of Heaven comes to this earth - New Jerusalem - the promised land of the Israelites. All nations will then flow to Israel to visit New Jerusalem and to worship the Lord God, who will sit upon the Throne.

As you see, Sunday is not the Sabbath - JESUS is the Sabbath. All who have entered Jesus, have entered the Rest. Today is Sabbath. Everyday is Sabbath for the Christian. We rest in Christ, and look forward to His second coming, when all things shall be fulfilled.

Christians gather on Sunday, not because it's the Sabbath, because it's not. I've read that the Roman Catholic church changed Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Whether they really did or not doesn't matter, since they don't have that authority. Sunday is not the Sabbath. It's the Lord's Day:

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet" -Revelation 1:10

Don't get "The Lord's Day" mixed up with "The Day of the Lord," which is Armageddon, LOL.

The Apostles and Christians didn't meet together or take communion on Saturdays. Saturdays were "door knocking," or "soul winning days." Many Baptist churches go out every Saturday to spread the Gospel. Did you know that that is also what the Apostles and the first Christians did on Saturdays? Pretty neat, isn't it?

The new Christians and Apostles would go to Jewish synagogues on Saturdays to tell them about their Messiah. The Messiah had come - this is great news.

"Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience..." -Acts 13:13-16

"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath." -Acts 13:52

"And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed." -Acts 14:1

"And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." -Acts 18:4

"And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized." -Acts 18:8

"And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly." -Acts 18:26

"And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God." -Acts 19:8

I could list more Scriptures - there are plenty more - but I think you get the picture. :-)

Saturday Sabbath was soul winning day. When did Christians gather, to worship the Lord, and fellowship with one another? Why, they did so on the first day of the week - Sunday, to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus:

Jesus was resurrected on Sunday:

"Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils." -Mark 16:9

The disciples and new Christians met together on Sundays:

"Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." -John 20:19

"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." -Acts 20:7

"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem." -1 Corinthians 16:1-3

Jesus is our Sabbath rest. When we've entered into Jesus, we are keeping the Sabbath. Christians gather on Sundays to commemorate the risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Sundays are "The Lord's Day."

Next in this series - The Christian's Relationship to the Dispensations