Why should Christians keep the Seventh Day Sabbath?

Author: BibleAsk Team


The Seventh Day Sabbath in the Old Testament

Let’s briefly allow the scriptures to answer the question: Why should Christians keep the Seventh Day Sabbath?

  1. God instituted the seventh day Sabbath at creation (Genesis 2:1-3) before any Jews existed.
  2. The seventh day Sabbath is the fourth commandment in God’s unchangeable (Psalms 89:34) moral law (Exodus 20:8-11) – the only document written by the very finger of God twice (Deuteronomy 9:10).
  3. The Sabbath is a sign that the Lord recreates and sanctifies His people (Ezekiel 20:12, 20; Exodus 31:13, 17).
  4. God says that Sabbath keepers will receive His great blessings (Isaiah 58:13, 14).
  5. The Lord declared that the seventh day Sabbath will be kept in the New heavens and the New Earth (Isaiah 66:22, 23).

The Seventh Day Sabbath in the New Testament (Before the Cross)

  1. Jesus kept the seventh day Sabbath (Luke 4:16) and taught much about the it (Matthew 12:12; 24:20). The Bible Sabbath is on Saturday, while Sunday is “the first day of the week” (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1, 2, etc.).
  2. Jesus stated, that He is “Lord even of the Sabbath day” (Matthew 12:8).
  3. Jesus said that He didn’t come to abolish God’s Moral Law (Matthew 5:17,18).
  4. Jesus expected His people to be still keeping the Sabbath in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed (Matthew 24:20).
  5. Jesus declared that the “Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27).

The Seventh Day Sabbath in the New Testament (After the Cross)

  1. The women, who came to anoint Christ’s dead body, kept the seventh day Sabbath (Mark 15:37, 42).
  2. The Sabbath was kept in the book of Acts by both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 13:13, 14;13: 42-44; 16:13; Acts 17:2; Acts 18:4).
  3. The sabbaths that were abolished at the Cross (Colossians 2:14-17; Ephesians 2:15; Romans 14:5) were the annual feast sabbath holidays of the the Mosaic law (Leviticus 23) which were also called sabbaths. These were in addition to or “beside the (weekly) Sabbath of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:38).
  4. The New Testament never stated that Sunday was set aside in honor of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. And there is no biblical reference for the authorization of the change of the Bible Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.
  5. The prophecy of Revelation predicts that Sunday (the first day of the week), an institution of the papacy (Daniel 7:25), will one day be enforced by law under threat of economic sanctions and worse for those who keep the Sabbath (Revelation 13:12–18).

For more on the Sabbath, please check (Lessons 91-102) of the Bible Lessons.

In His service,
BibleAsk Team

Leave a Comment