Hi Bruce,
Welcome here and so nice to meet you. Please see some comments for your consideration.
The Law was not abolished but was fulfilled and re-interpreted by Jesus Himself, who is the Lord of the Sabbath. Let me explain in more detail. God rested when His work was done, and Jesus rested when His work was done. The ancient Jews never much wanted that rest (which is why it had to be commanded), but it’s available to us today in the Spirit. The Sabbath clearly isn’t a day of the week anymore.
So
where is the scripture that says God's 4th commandment has been abolished and we are now commanded to keep Sunday as a Holy day? (please see the questions in the OP)
We enter into the Sabbath rest when we stop laboring for our acceptance from God, and that only happens when we accept by faith that Jesus’ sacrifice was for each of us. His work is done, and He invites us to join Him. Hebrews 4:9-10 tell us: “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.”
The CONTEXT of Hebrews 4:9 is the origin of the Sabbath as written in v3-4.
Hebrews 4:3 makes it very clear that the context of v9 is the SEVENTH DAY Sabbath referenced to
GENESIS 2:1-3 which is the origin of the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH.
HEBREWS 4:3-4 [3] For we who have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest: although the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. [4], For he spoke in a certain place of the
seventh day in this way, And God did rest the
seventh day from all his works.
links back to the origin of the Sabbath and the 4th commandment...
GENESIS 2:1-3 [1], Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
[2], And ON THE
SEVENTH DAY God ended his work which he had made; and he RESTED ON
THE SEVENTH DAY from all his work which he had made. [3], And
GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY, and made it HOLY <the 7th day>: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
links to...
EXODUS 20:8-11 [8],
REMEBER [
GENESIS 2:1-3] the
SABBATH DAY, to KEEP IT HOLY. <Why?> [Because God made it Holy for mankind and commands us to keep it as a Holy day] [9], Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: [10], But the
SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt
not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: <WHY>
[11], For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
SEVENTH DAY: wherefore the
LORD BLESSED THE SABBATH, and HALLOWED IT.
HEBREWS 4:9 [9], There remains a
SABBATH REST to the people of God.
GREEK 4520. σαββατισμός
sabbatismŏs, sab-bat-is-mos´; from a der. of 4521; a “sabbatism” Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 1, p. 64). Bellingham. The GREEK Word used here is Gr. "sabbatismos",
a Sabbath rest,
a rest from all work (Heb. 4:9; R.V., “sabbath”),
a rest like that of God when he had finished the work of creation. Easton, M. G. (1893). In Easton’s Bible dictionary. New York: Harper & Brothers.
INTERLINEAR GREEK
So then [αρα]
there remains [απολειπεται]
a sabbath rest [σαββατισμος]
for the [τω]
people [λαω] - [του]
of God [θεου]
The overall context of HEBREWS 4 is that no one enters into God's Sabbath rest without entering into the
gospel rest v1-2.
Colossians 2:16-17 should eliminate any doubt about the nature of the Sabbath: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”
Colossians 2 is talking about the laws in ORDINANCES from the MOSAIC BOOK of the COVENANT not God's 10 commandments v11 circumcision v16 is in reference to the annual Jewish feastivals and "special Sabbaths" of Leviticus 23 which could fall on any day of the week and where attached to specific feast days. This is not a reference to God's 4th commandment.
SCRIPTURE SUPPORT HERE CLICK ME.
”One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. “ (Romans 14:5-9)
ROMANS 14 is talking about food connected to Holy days, fasting and not fasting and food offered to idols. There is no reference in this chapter to God's 4th Commandment. There is not a single scripture here that says God's 4th Commandment is abolished as we are now commanded to keep Sunday as a Holy day. The discussion of Romans 14 was never God's 4th commandment versus Sunday which was never an issue in that time period.
In Matthew 5, Jesus was clear that He came to fulfill the Law and prophets.
Indeed and not one jot or tittle was to pass from the law.
As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus had the right, power, and authority to dispense it in any way He pleased, even to give to the early Church after Pentecost the right to re-institute it as the Lord’s Day, the day to celebrate the Resurrection, a day of worship.
Where is the scripture that says God's 4th commandment is now abolished and we are now commanded to keep Sunday as a Holy day? You have not provided anything so far. Where does it say in God's WORD that Sunday is "the LORD'S DAY"?
Yet we read in God's Word...
MATTHEW 12:8 [8]
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Seems the "LORD'S DAY" is the Sabbath day not Sunday.
Since the Lord of the Sabbath had come, He who is the only true “Sabbath rest” made the old law of the Sabbath no longer needed or binding.
Scripture please (see OP) Where does it say that Jesus is a Sabbath? The only scripture references of the Sabbath are to a day of rest. Where does it say that God's 4th Commandment has been abolished and we are now commanded to keep Sunday as a Holy day? Scripture please, you have provided none showing that God's 4th commandment has been abolished and we are now commanded to keep Sunday as a holy day. (Please see OP)
When He said,
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (
Mark 2:27), Jesus was attesting to the fact that, just as the Sabbath day was originally instituted to give man rest from his labors, so did He come to provide us rest from laboring to achieve our own salvation by our works. Because of His sacrifice on the Cross, we can now forever cease laboring to attain God’s favor and rest in His mercy and grace. So there is a very real sense that from that nothing-happening-on-earth Sabbath Saturday after Good Friday, all of the future became one eternal Sabbath for those with faith in Christ.
The Sabbath rest is different from the gospel rest. You cannot enter into God's Sabbath rest without first entering into the gospel rest (Hebrews 4) None of the above says that God's 4th commandment has been ABOLISHED and we are now commanded to keep Sunday as a Holy day.
Thanks for sharing Bruce.
Hope this helps.