An Adventist view of the Sabbath Commandment - and why it is applicable to all mankind

[HIM]

Jesus taught the spiritual application of the Ten Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount.

He said the law is not destroyed because heaven and earth have not been done away with and all has not been fulfilled. He said that those whom break the commandments and teach man so will in no case enter into heaven.

Matt 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Matt 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Matt 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

You have no idea what it means if you still badger people with your version of the law designed for wicked people under threat of death.

God's Law, His word which would include the Sabbath is in our heart and minds through Christ. If not then we are not in Him and He in us.

 

[Dave L]

He said the law is not destroyed because heaven and earth have not been done away with and all has not been fulfilled. He said that those whom break the commandments and teach man so will in wise enter into heaven.

Matt 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Matt 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Matt 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.



God's Law, His word which would include the Sabbath is in our heart and minds through Christ. If not then we are not in Him and He in us.

You are misinterpreting Jesus' words. He says it's impossible for the world to end until he fulfills the Law. Which he did on the cross. The world can end any day now.

Plus, what law did he fulfill? Not coveting the soldier's sandals? Pilate's wife? Herod's throne? This is how twisted things can get if you don't understand the TCs.

 

[HIM]

You are misinterpreting Jesus' words. He says it's impossible for the world to end until he fulfills the Law. Which he did on the cross. The world can end any day now.

NOWHERE DOES HE SAY THAT. Heaven and earth have not passed away and all has not been fulfilled so the law still stands. And even more so because now it is in our hearts and minds.

And you are misunderstanding the word fulfil in verse 17.

Here is Thayer's citation in his work;
γ. universally and absolutely, to fulfil, i.e. "to cause God's will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God's promises (given through the prophets) to receive fulfilment": Mat 5:17;

Here is Robertson's in his;
I came not to destroy, but to fulfil (ουκ ηλθον καταλυσα αλλα πληρωσα). The verb "destroy" means to "loosen down" as of a house or tent (2Co 5:1). Fulfil is to fill full. This Jesus did to the ceremonial law which pointed to him and the moral law he kept. "He came to fill the law, to reveal the full depth of meaning that it was intended to hold" (McNeile).

This is even more emphasized by his word telling us in verse 20, unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees we will in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. For they said and did not.

 

[Dkh587]

The Ten Commandments were for the Jews only. God abolished it with the New Covenant. If you keep even part of it you reject Christ and must do all of it, including a full return to Judaism.

the 10 commandments were given to the 12 tribes of Israel, not just the tribe of Judah, and also the Egyptians who believed in God and left Egypt with the Israelites.

Judaism is a manmade religion, and not what Moses and the Prophets taught.

The new covenant is still only with Israel, not Gentiles.

 

[Dave L]

NOWHERE DOES HE SAY THAT. Heaven and earth have not passed away and all has not been fulfilled so the law still stands. And even more so because now it is in our hearts and minds.

And you are misunderstanding the word fulfil in verse 17.

Here is Thayer's citation in his work;
γ. universally and absolutely, to fulfil, i.e. "to cause God's will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God's promises (given through the prophets) to receive fulfilment": Mat 5:17;

Here is Robertson's in his;
I came not to destroy, but to fulfil (ουκ ηλθον καταλυσα αλλα πληρωσα). The verb "destroy" means to "loosen down" as of a house or tent (2Co 5:1). Fulfil is to fill full. This Jesus did to the ceremonial law which pointed to him and the moral law he kept. "He came to fill the law, to reveal the full depth of meaning that it was intended to hold" (McNeile).

This is even more emphasized by his word telling us in verse 20, unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees we will in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. For they said and did not.

Jesus said the world could not end before he fulfilled the Law (on the cross). But fulfilling your version of the law would be ridiculous. Not stealing? Not coveting? etc.?

 

[HIM]

the 10 commandments were given to the 12 tribes of Israel, not just the tribe of Judah, and also the Egyptians who believed in God and left Egypt with the Israelites.

Judaism is a manmade religion, and not what Moses and the Prophets taught.

The new covenant is still only with Israel, not Gentiles.

Your words not Gods. For God has said to the Gentiles Rom 10:8, " The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach"

Which is the same as saying this in Hebrews 8:10, " For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people"

Which is the same as saying this in Ezek 36:27, "And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."

 

[boughtwithaprice]

God's Word:

Romans 14

5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.


Colossians 2:

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.



If a person wants to keep the Sabbath because they keep it to worship God, then do so. Give glory to God, but stop judging the rest of Christianity as evil because they worship on the Lord's day. I read Ellen White and her Great Controversy. She goes on a rant about how the Pope's and Bishops just had a lust for power, and they gave into the Roman empire for political reasons and increased power. They changed the Sabbath to Sunday to worship the Sun God instead of the Son of God. This does not hold up under an honest review of church history.
The Didache was written before Constantine, It talks about coming together on the Lord's day, and St Ignatius of Antioch lived in the first and second century. He may have known John the Apostle himself. St Ignatius wrote:

If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death... how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? (emphasis added)

 

[Nathan@work]

God's Word:

Romans 14

5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.


Colossians 2:

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.



If a person wants to keep the Sabbath because they keep it to worship God, then do so. Give glory to God, but stop judging the rest of Christianity as evil because they worship on the Lord's day. I read Ellen White and her Great Controversy. She goes on a rant about how the Pope's and Bishops just had a lust for power, and they gave into the Roman empire for political reasons and increased power. They changed the Sabbath to Sunday to worship the Sun God instead of the Son of God. This does not hold up under an honest review of church history.
The Didache was written before Constantine, It talks about coming together on the Lord's day, and St Ignatius of Antioch lived in the first and second century. He may have known John the Apostle himself. St Ignatius wrote:

If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death... how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? (emphasis added)

Technically speaking the “Lords Day” is the Sabbath.

Christianity has deemed it to be the first day of the week, but it is the Sabbath.

However, I do appreciate this reference, even if it stands alone singularly, because through it we understand how John - who dearly loved Jesus - saw the Sabbath.

John got it. He understood what the Sabbath is. I’m pretty convinced most who love God do also even if some try to fight it in favor of tradition.

 

[seeking.IAM]

The Ten Commandments were for the Jews only. God abolished it with the New Covenant. If you keep even part of it you reject Christ and must do all of it, including a full return to Judaism.

Based upon what authority? I'd like to see your scriptural reference supporting that view.

 

[John Mullally]

This obligation regarding the Sabbath commandment continues for all mankind - as it is included in the Law "written on heart and mind" under Jeremiah's New Covenant Jer 31:31-34 and is applicable to all mankind for all eternity after the cross in the New Earth according Is 66:23.

Whether or not the Gentiles were required to keep the Jewish Ceremonial Laws was a hot topic in the early church. The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 was formed by Peter and Paul to address this. It did not place a requirement towards the Sabbath in its final ruling (i.e. the letter to the Gentiles in Acts 15:23-29) even after it was considered as an important tradition among Jewish Christians in Acts 15:21. There is no need to rewrite the book of Acts.

Gentile believers were not commanded anywhere to keep Jewish Ceremonial laws outside of those listed in Acts 15:29. Form arguments from the rest of the Epistles if you disagree. This was a irritant to Paul in his confrontations with Judaizers who demanded circumcision. So watch yourself.

Galatians 5:12 I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.​

 

[boughtwithaprice]

Technically speaking the “Lords Day” is the Sabbath.

Christianity has deemed it to be the first day of the week, but it is the Sabbath.

However, I do appreciate this reference, even if it stands alone singularly, because through it we understand how John - who dearly loved Jesus - saw the Sabbath.

John got it. He understood what the Sabbath is. I’m pretty convinced most who love God do also even if some try to fight it in favor of tradition.

 

[boughtwithaprice]

You are mistaken sir. The Lord was resurrected on the first day of the week. That is His day, the Lord’s day. We can also see the the Holy Spirit was poured fourth on the Apostles on the first day of the week on Pentecost.
When the early church is studied, we see the Apostles fighting against the Judahizers. They demanded that Christians get circumcised and keep the Sabbath. The Apostles did not teach the gentiles to do that
Christ Himself said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. He had the perfect opportunity to declare the Sabbath as an obligation forever, but He did not do it. He instead gave all authority to Peter when He said whatsoever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven. The Church changed the Sabbath to the first day of the week by the authority granted her by Jesus Himself. The Judahizers were rebuked.

 

[Dave L]

Based upon what authority? I'd like to see your scriptural reference supporting that view.

““The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai. The LORD did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today.” (Deuteronomy 5:2–3)

 

[seeking.IAM]

““The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai. The LORD did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today.” (Deuteronomy 5:2–3)

That doesn't say if you keep part of it you reject Christ. Try again?

 

[Dave L]

That doesn't say if you keep part of it you reject Christ. Try again?

It says that in the NT. Paul especially. Have you read the NT?

 

[seeking.IAM]

It says that in the NT. Paul especially. Have you read the NT?

Yes. Often. Show me where.

 

[Dave L]

Yes. Often. Show me where.

Let me ask why the Apostles did not mention keeping the Law as a requirement for gentile converts if you think they should?

 

[Nathan@work]

You are mistaken sir. The Lord was resurrected on the first day of the week. That is His day, the Lord’s day. We can also see the the Holy Spirit was poured fourth on the Apostles on the first day of the week on Pentecost.
When the early church is studied, we see the Apostles fighting against the Judahizers. They demanded that Christians get circumcised and keep the Sabbath. The Apostles did not teach the gentiles to do that
Christ Himself said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. He had the perfect opportunity to declare the Sabbath as an obligation forever, but He did not do it. He instead gave all authority to Peter when He said whatsoever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven. The Church changed the Sabbath to the first day of the week by the authority granted her by Jesus Himself. The Judahizers were rebuked.

I know why it is Church tradition to call the first day of the week the ‘Lords Day’. I am very familiar with that.

However, when John says in Revelation;

Revelation 1:10 (ESV) I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

He was not talking about Sunday. This is the only time that those words ‘the Lords day’ are used. The significance of it is huge.

As I said, it meant John understood what the Sabbath was. Not a ritual to be kept each week, doing certain things, not doing others.....John understood the Sabbath was the Lords day.

Matthew 12:8 (ESV)
For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.

Romans 14:6 (ESV)
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.

Again, it is significant and shouldn’t be overlooked or thought to be changed. Revelation was written before any other church document stating that Sunday was the ‘Lords day’.

There is nothing wrong with acknowledging the Sabbath as the Lords day - I believe people should see the significance of it.

 

[dqhall]

Ex 20:11 makes the case that the first text showing that humans were obligated to keep God's Sabbath - was Gen 2:1-3.

Gen 2:1-3
And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their heavenly lights. 2 By the seventh day God completed 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 on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Ex 20:11
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (same word as in Gen 2 - Sanctified)

Ex 20:8-11 declares that God's act of Sanctifying something on Earth - creates an obligation for mankind to honor it.

Ex 20:10 "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD (YHWH)"

Mark 2:27 "the Sabbath was made for mankind - not mankind MADE for the Sabbath" speaks to the "making of both" in Gen 1-2:3.

No wonder gentiles are commanded not to profane the Sabbath in Is 56:6.
Is 56:
“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
To attend to His service and to love the name of the Lord,
To be His servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it,
And holds firmly to My covenant;

This obligation regarding the Sabbath commandment continues for all mankind - as it is included in the Law "written on heart and mind" under Jeremiah's New Covenant Jer 31:31-34 and is applicable to all mankind for all eternity after the cross in the New Earth according Is 66:23.

No wonder even non-Bible Sabbath keeping scholarship admits to these Bible details --
D.L. Moody
Baptist Confession of Faith Sectn 19
Westminster Confession of Faith Sectn 19
R.C Sproul
(C.H. Spurgeon)
etc

Some examples - here #7
and here: #8
======================= FYI

interesting comment about God's act of sanctifying something - creating an obligation for mankind to honor it.

The Jews wanted to kill Jesus for working on the seventh day, but Jesus told them his father was working all along. John 5:8-15

As far as I know Seventh Day Adventists do not circumcise boys like the Jews and Muslims circumcise. Adventists ignore other commandments as well for God desired mercy and not their sacrificial offerings. I attended SDA Sabbath School in the 1980’s. They could not celebrate eating lamb for Passover as many of them are vegan or vegetarian. Not I ate a plant based diet for most of my meals as it is recommended by some doctors for my health.

When I did a moving and storage summer job as a teenager. I was so hungry and tired by the time the weekend came, I did very little work then anyway. I spent the weekend eating and resting my sore body. When I had a job as a computer application engineer, I did so little physical work, I was able to do physical chores and exercise on the weekend.

 

[boughtwithaprice]

I know why it is Church tradition to call the first day of the week the ‘Lords Day’. I am very familiar with that.

However, when John says in Revelation;

Revelation 1:10 (ESV) I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

He was not talking about Sunday. This is the only time that those words ‘the Lords day’ are used. The significance of it is huge.

As I said, it meant John understood what the Sabbath was. Not a ritual to be kept each week, doing certain things, not doing others.....John understood the Sabbath was the Lords day.

Matthew 12:8 (ESV)
For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.

Romans 14:6 (ESV)
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.

Again, it is significant and shouldn’t be overlooked or thought to be changed. Revelation was written before any other church document stating that Sunday was the ‘Lords day’.

There is nothing wrong with acknowledging the Sabbath as the Lords day - I believe people should see the significance of it.

There is nothing wrong with observing the Sabbath. You correctly say that whoever observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The Catholic church recognizes Seventh Day Adventists as christians. You are incorrect when you call the Sabbath, the Lord's day. In the history of Christianity, the Lord's day is know as a day distinct from the Sabbath. St Augustine said it best. Today is the eighth day after Easter and is known as Divine Mercy Sunday. In the office of readings for today, we see the significance of the eighth day in God's plan for salvation. This is from a sermon by St Augustine:

This is the octave day of your new birth. Today is fulfilled in you the sign of faith that was prefigured in the Old Testament by the circumcision of the flesh on the eighth day after birth. When the Lord rose from the dead, he put off the mortality of the flesh; his risen body was still the same body, but it was no longer subject to death. By his resurrection he consecrated Sunday, or the Lord’s day. Though the third after his passion, this day is the eighth after the Sabbath, and thus also the first day of the week.
And so your own hope of resurrection, though not yet realised, is sure and certain, because you have received the sacrament or sign of this reality, and have been given the pledge of the Spirit. If, then, you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your hearts on heavenly things, not the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.


Sunday worship is not the mark of the beast. Sunday was consecrated by Jesus' Resurrection. On the Seventh Day, God rested, but on the Eighth day, He rose again and went to work. We were given the great commission, go into the world and make disciples of all nations baptizing them the the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It's not time to rest, it's time to work. Life is a constant battle against the wickedness and snares of the devil, who prowls about the world seeking the ruin of souls. The Judahizers were causing the ruin of souls, and they needed to be rebuked by the Apostles. The souls on earth are called the Church Militant, because we are in constant battle.

If you want to keep the Sabbath, then do so for God, and do not judge those that do not agree with you and have very spiritual godly reasons for worshiping on Sunday. As God's word says in the book of Romans, Who are you to judge another man's servant?