Should Christians keep the seventh day Sabbath holy?
Are we being deceived by not remembering the Sabbath?
The Bible says that the New Covenant will have two aspects. One, God forgives us of our sins, which are the violations of the law, which include the forth commandment. 1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Two, God will write His law on our hearts.
We know from Scripture that keeping of the Ten Commandments saves no one, but rather, they point out our need for a Savior. It's God's grace that saves us.
This tells me that we don't keep the commandmends to get saved, but rather, once we are saved we will keep them because we love God and neighbor.
Romans 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
Shall we break the law of God because we are now saved?
God tells us that the keeping of the law is motivated by love for God and love for neighbor.
Matthew 22:36-40 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?'' Jesus said to him, " `You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' "This is the first and great commandment. "And the second is like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.''
How we love God and neighbor is defined in the Ten Commandments.
The first four teach us what pleases God and the last six teaches us what will please others.
How does God write these two aspects of the law on our hearts.
Under the Old Covenant they were commanded to keep the commandments or die.
Under the New Covenant we are free from that fearful aspect of death for not keeping the law and are now under grace, in other words, God frees us from the law and its penalty so that we now are free to obey or not obey without fear. This will open us up to obey God from the heart.
Ephesians 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
Look at it this way. Lets say a guy hires a maid, she comes to his house twice a week. The guy puts up a list of chores for her to do, which entail, laundry, dishes, cooking and cleaning. If she does not do these things she will risk the chance of being fired. As she begins to work for him, several months go by when they begin to fall in love and get married. The first thing she does when she comes home from her wedding is she removes the list of chores. Does this mean she will no longer do these things? No, it means she does not need the list to tell her what to do because she loves her husband.
God takes away the law so that we can keep the law because we love Him. If I saw that maid doing all the house work for free I would have to ask why she was doing it. Her response would be, because she Ioves him.
If someone asked me why I was keeping the Sabbath, since we are no longer under the law but under grace, I wound have to say, because I love Him.
The Ten Commandments have not been done away with, we just have a different relationship to them now. They go from being written on stone to being written on our heart through freedom and love.
Listen to how the Ten Commandments are referred to by Paul.
Ephesians 6:2 "Honor your father and mother,'' which is the first commandment with promise:
Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
Listen to how Jesus refers back to them.
Luke 18:18-21 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'' So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. "You know the commandments: `Do not commit adultery,' `Do not murder,' `Do not steal,' `Do not bear false witness,' `Honor your father and your mother.' '' And he said, "All these I have kept from my youth.''
Jesus was even concerned about the Sabbath forty years after His resurrection.
Matthew 24:16-20 "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. "Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. "And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those with nursing babies in those days! "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
Jesus even said He was Lord of the Sabbath and how the Sabbath was made for man.
These are not words that do away with the law or the Sabbath, but rather, confirm the Sabbath and the law.
What are your thoughts?