One of The STRONGEST Arguments for The Sabbath ~

[SabbathBlessings]

Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment (Acts 15:24)

I've noticed in discussions of this nature, the first letter sent by the apostles in Jerusalem is quite often overlooked. The item being discussed if the new gentile believers needed to be 1) circumcised and 2) keep the law. The apostles said on both items that they have given no such commandment.

The following was provided for application:

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (Acts 15:28-29)

This is what the apostles taught, based on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The sabbath obligation is generally an extension of it since it is related to "keeping the law" of which no such commandment was given by the apostles.

Acts 15 is not saying we can break the commandments of God. It is referring to circumcision. Paul makes this point 1 Cor 7:19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Same reply as @elos1955 it is love centered. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments 1 John 5:3. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:4

I really do not understand why anyone would not want to keep God’s commandments. Happy is he who keeps the law Proverbs 29:18 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.” Psalms 40:8

The commandments are for our own good.

It seems that dialogue, sadly, is very limited by your denominational lense.

1. Romans 3:20
   because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.
   
   
2. Romans 3:27
   Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
   
   
3. Romans 3:28
   For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
   
   
4. Romans 4:2
   For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God.
   
   
5. Romans 9:32
   Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though they could by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
   
   
6. Romans 11:6
   But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, since otherwise grace is no longer grace.
   
   
7. Galatians 2:16
   nevertheless, knowing that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
   
   
8. Galatians 3:2
   This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
   
   
9. Galatians 3:5
   So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
   
   
10. Galatians 3:10
    For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to do them.”

Judging others who Love Jesus, who walk in faith, not the works of the law, is a serious position to take and clearly contrary to scripture.

Have a good day.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Acts 15 is not saying we can break the commandments of God. It is referring to circumcision. Paul makes this point 1 Cor 7:19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

Acts 15 says keeping the law is not a commandment the apostles gave.

What the commandments of Jesus are, is a good topic, but this goes outside the scope of "the law" since the curses are not appended to the teachings of Jesus.

So it is not the same thing, even if it quacks like a duck.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

It seems that dialogue, sadly, is very limited by your denominational lense.

1. Romans 3:20
   because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.
   
   
2. Romans 3:27
   Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
   
   
3. Romans 3:28
   For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
   
   
4. Romans 4:2
   For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God.
   
   
5. Romans 9:32
   Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though they could by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
   
   
6. Romans 11:6
   But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, since otherwise grace is no longer grace.
   
   
7. Galatians 2:16
   nevertheless, knowing that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
   
   
8. Galatians 3:2
   This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
   
   
9. Galatians 3:5
   So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
   
   
10. Galatians 3:10
    For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to do them.”

Judging others who Love Jesus, who walk in faith, not the works of the law, is a serious position to take and clearly contrary to scripture.

Have a good day.

This is only part of the story. Many misunderstand Paul and did even in his day. Paul is not saying that we are free to break God’s commandments which He states very clearly and for some reason these scriptures never seem to be quoted by Paul.

Romans 2:13 for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;

Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”

Romans 7:14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good.

Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

1 Cor 7:19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

You cannot walk in the Spirit by breaking the commandments of God. Paul is not telling us we are free to break God’s commandments and Paul does not teach a different gospel in one verse from another, nor does he teach a different gospel than Jesus or the other disciples who all teach us we should keep God’s commandments. It is how we express love to God.

Faith and obedience are not at odds with each other, they go hand-in hand. Faith establishes the law according to Paul Romans 3:31

Revelations 14: 12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

We do not keep the law to be saved, we keep it because it is how we express love to God. We are saved by God’s grace though our faith and obedience is a fruit of true faith

I was not judging you and me saying I don’t understand why anyone would not want to keep God’s commandments is not judging. It’s my honest opinion, I truly don’t get it. God’s commandments are not burdensome 1 John 5:3 and Jesus asks for so little and even gives us the Holy Spirit to help us obey John 14:15-18. Jesus is our righteous judge and we will all stand before Him 2 Corinthians 5:10. What if Jesus meant what He said John 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments? It is also one of the very last scripture so it seems important. Revelations 22:14 God bless

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Acts 15 says keeping the law is not a commandment the apostles gave.

What the commandments of Jesus are, is a good topic, but this goes outside the scope of "the law" since the curses are not appended to the teachings of Jesus.

So it is not the same thing, even if it quacks like a duck.

So you claim the apostles are saying we are free now to worship other gods, vain God’s name, murder and steal? Surely you have read this chapter wrong. The chapter is referring to circumcision and not the commandments of God. I have to run for now, but you provide more details a little later.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I think you may have missed there are two different Sabbaths in the Bible. The seventh day Sabbath that is a commandment of God and the annual sabbath(s) feasts days that is about food and drink offerings. Col 2:14-17 is not referring to the seventh day Sabbath that is part of God’s Ten Commandments that are eternal Matthew 5:19, it is referring to the annual sabbath(s) feast days.

Thanks for engaging.

 

[IWalkAlone]

I believe the sabbath command is observed by those who rest in Christ. The OT way of observing Sabbath was just a shadow of what was to come. Sabbath was a day off for man and beast but it was a shadow of Gods eternal rest which he entered into after creation. God rested from His works on Sabbath, its final and eternal rest unless I'm mistaken. And our sabbath rest eternal.

 

[IWalkAlone]

If we are God's workmanship, how can we boast in any good work knowing he created them for us and in us.

 

[pasifika]

So you claim the apostles are saying we are free now to worship other gods, vain God’s name, murder and steal? Surely you have read this chapter wrong. The chapter is referring to circumcision and not the commandments of God. I have to run for now, but you provide more details a little later.

Hello SB, if you follow the letter of the Law you fallen away from the Spirit...either you follow God's law by the letter or Spirit..

Problems from old still continues today..

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Hello SB, if you follow the letter of the Law you fallen away from the Spirit...either you follow God's law by the letter or Spirit..

Problems from old still continues today..

Jesus came to magnify the law from the inside out. Isaiah 42:21 and Jesus shows examples of this Matthew 5:21-30. Adultery and Murder starts with our thoughts, but does that mean Jesus literally wants us to murder or commit adultery? If you are walking in the Spirit, you will be keeping the letter. We are told to examine ourselves to be sure we are in the faith 2 Corinthians 13:5 and how we know - To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20

Not sure how this teaching that it is okay to sin became so popular, it is not what Jesus taught Matthew 5:19, Matthew 14:15, Matthew 15:10, 1 John 5:3

God bless

 

[Aussie Pete]

If there is no law then what need do you have of grace? Abraham followed commandments...Genesis 26:5

That is possibly the strangest comment I've ever read on this subject. The Law's purpose was to lead us to Christ. No one gets saved by observing the Law. I could not recite the 10 commandments before I got saved.
Romans 2:12-16
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous. Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.

I did not need to know the 10 commandments. I'm not sure I could recite them from memory now, apart from the first two.

The question for believers is, are you obeying God in your heart? That's where His will is revealed and His guidance given. And only by the power of the Lord Jesus within can we obey God anyway. God's commandments are for external obedience. The Sermon on the Mount makes it clear that God is looking for much more than that. And external obedience is not enough to save anyone.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Same reply as @elos1955 it is love centered. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments 1 John 5:3. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:4

I really do not understand why anyone would not want to keep God’s commandments. Happy is he who keeps the law Proverbs 29:18 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.” Psalms 40:8

The commandments are for our own good.

Except no one can keep them. Lord Jesus came that we might have real life, not slavery to a set of rules that we can't obey anyway. Ask King David how much the law helped him when he set eyes on Bathsheba having a bath.

 

[pasifika]

Jesus came to magnify the law from the inside out. Isaiah 42:21 and Jesus shows examples of this Matthew 5:21-30. Adultery and Murder starts with our thoughts, but does that mean Jesus literally wants us to murder or commit adultery? If you are walking in the Spirit, you will be keeping the letter. We are told to examine ourselves to be sure we are in the faith 2 Corinthians 13:5 and how we know - To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20

Not sure how this teaching that it is okay to sin became so popular, it is not what Jesus taught Matthew 5:19, Matthew 14:15, Matthew 15:10, 1 John 5:3

God bless

Jesus came to fulfilled the Righteous requirements of law so we can have God's Righteousness through Him..

Jesus said to John the Baptist in His baptism..Matthew 3:15.." let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfilled all righteousness"..

The law (10) does not change our evil hearts is just shows it that we have evil hearts..

But, the Spirit change our evil hearts (sanctification through Faith) but also gives us eternal life...Romans

 

[Soyeong]

Are you seriously claiming that no one can Love Jesus unless they keep a Saturday Sabbath?

No. Jesus is the exact expression of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3), which he expressed through living in sinless obedience to the Mosaic Law, so that is his identity. The reasons why God specifically chose to give the laws that He did teach us about how to love Christ's nature. For example, God's righteous laws teach us how to express God's righteousness, so when we express God's righteousness through our obedience to His law, we are expressing our love for that aspect of who God is, which is why there are many verses in both the OT and the NT that connect our love for God with our obedience to Him. For example, in John 14:23-24, Jesus said that if we love him, then we will obey his teachings, if we don't love him, then we will not obey his teachings, and his teachings are not his own, but that of the Father. So when someone refuses to obey any of God's laws, such as the Sabbath, they are rejecting the truth of what that law teaches us about the nature of who Christ is and are expressing that they do not love that aspect of who he is. I don't think that John 14:23-24 is saying that if we reject anything that the Father has taught, then we have no love for Jesus whatsoever, but that each of the Father's teachings that someone refuses to obey is an area where they do not love Jesus.

 

[Carl Emerson]

No. Jesus is the exact expression of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3), which he expressed through living in sinless obedience to the Mosaic Law, so that is his identity. The reasons why God specifically chose to give the laws that He did teach us about how to love Christ's nature. For example, God's righteous laws teach us how to express God's righteousness, so when we express God's righteousness through our obedience to His law, we are expressing our love for that aspect of who God is, which is why there are many verses in both the OT and the NT that connect our love for God with our obedience to Him. For example, in John 14:23-24, Jesus said that if we love him, then we will obey his teachings, if we don't love him, then we will not obey his teachings, and his teachings are not his own, but that of the Father. So when someone refuses to obey any of God's laws, such as the Sabbath, they are rejecting the truth of what that law teaches us about the nature of who Christ is and are expressing that they do not love that aspect of who he is. I don't think that John 14:23-24 is saying that if we reject anything that the Father has taught, then we have no love for Jesus whatsoever, but that each of the Father's teachings that someone refuses to obey is an area where they do not love Jesus.

That would make sense if He had not invited us to join Him in Eternal Seventh Day Sabbath Rest (Heb 4) saying today (any day) if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts. As this invitation is given to all at any moment of time, resulting in permanent rest, the matter of restricting worship to one day is eclipsed.
As a lifestyle I worship God every day.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Same reply as @elos1955 it is love centered. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments 1 John 5:3. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:4

I really do not understand why anyone would not want to keep God’s commandments. Happy is he who keeps the law Proverbs 29:18 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.” Psalms 40:8

The commandments are for our own good.

Further to my other comments, there is another reason why keeping the law is inadequate. The law is not of faith. God's righteous people live by faith, not by law. You can live in the OT if you want. I prefer the new covenant.

 

[pasifika]

Jesus healed most people on the Sabbath (7th day), this in a way gives us an understanding of the real meaning of Sabbath Rest...

 

[Aussie Pete]

Jesus came to fulfilled the Righteous requirements of law so we can have God's Righteousness through Him..

Jesus said to John the Baptist in His baptism..Matthew 3:15.." let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfilled all righteousness"..

The law (10) does not change our evil hearts is just shows it that we have evil hearts..

But, the Spirit change our evil hearts (sanctification through Faith) but also gives us eternal life...Romans

God gives us a new heart and a new spirit. Lord Jesus lives in our new spirit to fulfill every requirement that God has of us. That's what Galatians 2:20 is all about. If we walk in the Spirit, all is well. If we seek to live by obeying the law, we will certainly fail. You are on the right track!

 

[Aussie Pete]

Jesus healed most people on the Sabbath (7th day), this in a way gives us an understanding of the real meaning of Sabbath Rest...

The sabbath was made for man - God's wisdom for our needs. The NT does not prescribe a day and hardly mentions the Sabbath. It's been replaced with "The Lord's Day", not the same thing. Everyone needs a day off once a week. It's not always possible, and God knows that. When I was in the military, I worked for 3 weeks straight with 4 hours sleep a night. By the law, I should have been stoned to death. Instead, God let me sleep for 18 hours at the end of the 3 weeks.

 

[pasifika]

The sabbath was made for man - God's wisdom for our needs. The NT does not prescribe a day and hardly mentions the Sabbath. It's been replaced with "The Lord's Day", not the same thing. Everyone needs a day off once a week. It's not always possible, and God knows that. When I was in the military, I worked for 3 weeks straight with 4 hours sleep a night. By the law, I should have been stoned to death. Instead, God let me sleep for 18 hours at the end of the 3 weeks.

Thank you...wow you offer your life for the protection of others...

So do you think Sabbath rest is a physical or spiritual rest?