When I read this forum I often see many assertions about the Sabbath that cannot be supported from the Biblical evidence. Therefore I wanted to outline the reasons why I am a Sabbath keeper. 
The Sabbath is a memorial of creation
The Sabbath was instituted when God created Earth, before man fell into sin, before man had any need of someone to save us from sin. "God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation." - Genesis 2:3
In other words, the Sabbath was a holy day for a long time before Abraham and Moses lived. It was holy, meaning that it was set apart as a special day. Since it was given to Adam before any Jew had come into existence, the notion that the Sabbath was for the Jews alone cannot be correct.
When the Sabbath commandment was reconfirmed at Sinai, a reference to creation was given as the reason why the Sabbath day is holy. The language here makes it clear that the Sabbath already was known to the Jews:
Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. [ ] For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. - Exodus 20:8, 11
In this age when the biblical creation story is ridiculed and held in contempt, Christians should be eager to keep the Sabbath as a testimony of our faith in God as the supreme Creator.
There is clear biblical evidence demonstrating that the Sabbath was known and kept before the ten commandments were given at Sinai
When we read Exodus closely we see that the Sabbath was known and kept before Sinai. When the Israelites were out in the desert, but before they reached Sinai, they were given Manna as food. It's interesting to note that the Israelites shouldn't have to toil in the desert heat gathering Manna on the Sabbath. Instead they should gather twice the normal amount the day before. (Exodus 16:22-26.)
See, because the LORD has given you the Sabbath, that is why he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day. - Exodus 16:28-30
Remember that this happened before the ten commandments were given at Sinai. The people rested on the seventh day because it already was a holy day.
In other words, the argument that the Sabbath was given exclusively to the Jews at Sinai is wrong. The Sabbath was known and kept from the time of Adam and Eve, it was kept before the ceremonial laws were given to the Jews at Sinai.
Jesus confirmed that Christians were to keep the Sabbath after his death
We've already seen that the Sabbath pre-dated the ceremonial law, and it is also evident from Jesus own words that his death on the Cross wasn't supposed to remove the sanctity of the Sabbath.
Before he died he made a prophecy about the fate of Jerusalem who were to be destroyed by the Romans. When the Christians living in Jerusalem saw the city besieging Jerusalem, they were to flee for their lives, and he asked the disciples to pray so that they didn't have to flee on the Sabbath:
"Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen." - Matthew 24:20-21
In other words, a long time in the future, after Jesus had died and returned to heaven, the disciples were to pray for the privilege to rest on the Sabbath, even in times of distress and persecution.
Didn't Jesus break the Sabbath?
No, it was the Pharisees who falsely accused Jesus of being a Sabbath breaker because he healed people on the Sabbath, and because he defended his disciples when they picked and ate heads of grain on the Sabbath while wandering through a field. The Pharisees had insisted on keeping a great number of pointless man made regulations about the observance of Sabbath, which came from man and not from the word of God. Jesus demonstrated what the Sabbath really was about, a day when we receive special blessings from God, a day where our burdens are taken away.
Jesus also denied that the Sabbath was a ceremonial day given to the Jews alone:
Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. - Mark 2:27
Here Jesus confirms that the Sabbath was given mankind and that it wasn't limited to a single nation.
There is no proof that any other day than the Sabbath is to be our day of rest
In contrast to the explicit Sabbath commandment, the bible nowhere asks us to make Sunday, or any other day of the week, a day of rest.
As a Sabbatarian I can wholeheartedly say that NOT having to work one day a week, is a blessing that I wouldn't trade away for anything in this world. Having one unbroken day of the week that I freely can make use of to worship God, deepens my relationship with God and gives me spiritual, mental and physical strength for the days ahead of me.
I don't deny that many sincere Christians have benefited from observing Sunday as a day of rest, yet there is no biblical basis for keeping Sunday as a holy day. As Christians we should let God and the Bible guide our lives, not human tradition.
Paul confirms that the moral law still is binding for Christians
Let me first of all point out that Sabbatarians don't deny that there is a set of laws that were nullified by the cross. We believe that Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial law, he was the true sacrificial lamb (John 1:29), and is our High Priest in heaven today. (Hebrews 8:1-3.) Therefore the law that regulated the ministry in the earthly tabernacle is surpassed by the reality, it is fulfilled in Christ and abolished. (Hebrews 7:18-19.)
However, there is a law that is just as binding today as it always has been, namely the moral law of love, as expressed in the ten commandments. This law can never be abolished, because it is an expression of divine love. Paul confirmed that this law still is binding for Christians:
Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law. - Romans 3:31 (NASB)
A life lived in harmony with this moral law demonstrates that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and that we're renewed by the power of the gospel. Paul speaks of the moral law when he says:
The one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet, (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. - Romans 13:8-10
The moral law is a reflection of God's character, his glory and love, and therefore it can never be abolished, simply because God never changes. The law shows us God's standard and it reveals that we're sinners, while the gospel shows us that by the blood of Jesus all our sins are forgiven, and through him we receive strength to live holy lives.
James addresses this when he talks about the law of liberty:
"For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out he will be blessed in what he does." - James 1:23-25
The Sabbath is at the very centre of the moral law as expressed in the ten commandments. (Exodus chapter 20.) The first half of the ten commandments deals with our duty to God, while the second half deals with the duty towards man. Interestingly the Sabbath commandment belongs to both sections. On one hand the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on the other hand it is also a day where we let other people rest from their labour: you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. - Exodus 20:10
Because the apostles unanimously confirm that the moral law isn't abolished, Christians are still to rest on the Sabbath. The notion that the Sabbath has been abolished cannot be supported from the bible alone.
Isn't it legalism to keep the Sabbath?
No, keeping the law is a result of being justified by faith, we aren't justified because we keep the law. Deeds done in love (keeping the law, Romans 13:8-10) are fruits (Romans 7:4) that comes from our relationship with the risen Saviour, they can never be the foundation of our relationship with God.
Christians are not under the law, (Romans 7:6) meaning that the law cannot condemn us, because our sins are forgiven. We keep the law and do good deeds as fruits that we present to God, and not to earn righteousness by fulfilling the demands of the law.
Christ kept the law of love perfectly, and in him we can appear before God as if we never have sinned. By his blood he atoned for our sins, and by his perfect life he fulfilled the demands of the law. Therefore a true observance of the biblical Sabbath springs out of our relationship with God.
Yes, Jesus fulfilled all the laws, including the moral law and the Sabbath, but if we're driven by the Spirit, Christ will be our model pattern, and we will demonstrate that we have the fruits of the Spirit.
Was the Sabbath just a shadow that typified our rest in Christ?
It is true that the writer of Hebrews talks of a Sabbath rest still remaining for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9.) If we read this verse in its context, we see that he talks about heaven where we will see God and Jesus face to face. But nowhere does he state that our future heavenly rest has invalidated the Sabbath commandment, in fact this passage becomes pointless if those addressed didn't keep the Sabbath. How can heaven be a Sabbath rest if we as Christians aren't supposed to rest on the Sabbath?
The Sabbath cannot be compared to the ceremonial days of the old pact, simply because it was instituted at the creation, before man sinned and needed a Saviour. On the other hand, the ceremonial days we find in the mosaic law were instituted after man sinned and foreshadowed the work of our redeemer.
I don't deny that the Sabbath also is to be a celebration of the redemptive power of God, but in no way was it meant to be a temporary shadow.
There is no proof of a controversy regarding the Sabbath during the time of the apostles
It's true that there's not that many passages in the New Testament that deal with the Sabbath, but this is no proof that the observance of Sabbath was discontinued. A simple explanation of this is that keeping the Sabbath was universal and uncontroversial at the time when the New Testament was written. There's not much written about the Sabbath in the New Testament simply because there was no need to address this issue at the time.
In fact, because there is relatively little written about the Sabbath in the New Testament, it is unimaginable that the apostles taught that it was abolished, because such a claim would inevitably have generated a huge controversy among the believers of Jewish origin. We find no such controversy in the New Testament, instead the hot topic was whether gentile believers should follow the ritual law and be circumcised!
Isn't Sunday the Lord's day, a New Sabbath?
People claim that since Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday, this day is supposed to be our new day of worship.
Of course, nobody denies that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week Sunday, but there is no Biblical evidence that this day was meant to replace the seventh day Sabbath.
It is also true that the Christian church eventually begun keeping the Sunday as a holy day, and eventually was called the Lord's day in Christian settings, presumably because he was resurrected on Sunday. But if we're going to argue solely from a biblical point of view, the seventh day Sabbath is the only day that legitimately can be called the Lord's day:
The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath. - Matthew 12:8
That Jesus rose on Sunday is no valid justification to make Sunday a day of worship instead of the biblical Sabbath. Jesus rose on Sunday, but he died for our sins on a Friday. Remembering his inglorious death on the cross is just as essential for Christians as recalling his glorious resurrection, so there is no biblical reason for Sunday to be a holier day than Friday.
The reason why the Sabbath is no longer remembered in much of Christianity isn't a theological one, but a historical one. If you're interested in how Sunday replaced the Sabbath as a day of worship, Wikipedia is a good place to begin:
Sabbath in Christianity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sabbath is a memorial of creation
The Sabbath was instituted when God created Earth, before man fell into sin, before man had any need of someone to save us from sin. "God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation." - Genesis 2:3
In other words, the Sabbath was a holy day for a long time before Abraham and Moses lived. It was holy, meaning that it was set apart as a special day. Since it was given to Adam before any Jew had come into existence, the notion that the Sabbath was for the Jews alone cannot be correct.
When the Sabbath commandment was reconfirmed at Sinai, a reference to creation was given as the reason why the Sabbath day is holy. The language here makes it clear that the Sabbath already was known to the Jews:
Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. [ ] For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. - Exodus 20:8, 11
In this age when the biblical creation story is ridiculed and held in contempt, Christians should be eager to keep the Sabbath as a testimony of our faith in God as the supreme Creator.
There is clear biblical evidence demonstrating that the Sabbath was known and kept before the ten commandments were given at Sinai
When we read Exodus closely we see that the Sabbath was known and kept before Sinai. When the Israelites were out in the desert, but before they reached Sinai, they were given Manna as food. It's interesting to note that the Israelites shouldn't have to toil in the desert heat gathering Manna on the Sabbath. Instead they should gather twice the normal amount the day before. (Exodus 16:22-26.)
See, because the LORD has given you the Sabbath, that is why he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day. - Exodus 16:28-30
Remember that this happened before the ten commandments were given at Sinai. The people rested on the seventh day because it already was a holy day.
In other words, the argument that the Sabbath was given exclusively to the Jews at Sinai is wrong. The Sabbath was known and kept from the time of Adam and Eve, it was kept before the ceremonial laws were given to the Jews at Sinai.
Jesus confirmed that Christians were to keep the Sabbath after his death
We've already seen that the Sabbath pre-dated the ceremonial law, and it is also evident from Jesus own words that his death on the Cross wasn't supposed to remove the sanctity of the Sabbath.
Before he died he made a prophecy about the fate of Jerusalem who were to be destroyed by the Romans. When the Christians living in Jerusalem saw the city besieging Jerusalem, they were to flee for their lives, and he asked the disciples to pray so that they didn't have to flee on the Sabbath:
"Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen." - Matthew 24:20-21
In other words, a long time in the future, after Jesus had died and returned to heaven, the disciples were to pray for the privilege to rest on the Sabbath, even in times of distress and persecution.
Didn't Jesus break the Sabbath?
No, it was the Pharisees who falsely accused Jesus of being a Sabbath breaker because he healed people on the Sabbath, and because he defended his disciples when they picked and ate heads of grain on the Sabbath while wandering through a field. The Pharisees had insisted on keeping a great number of pointless man made regulations about the observance of Sabbath, which came from man and not from the word of God. Jesus demonstrated what the Sabbath really was about, a day when we receive special blessings from God, a day where our burdens are taken away.
Jesus also denied that the Sabbath was a ceremonial day given to the Jews alone:
Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. - Mark 2:27
Here Jesus confirms that the Sabbath was given mankind and that it wasn't limited to a single nation.
There is no proof that any other day than the Sabbath is to be our day of rest
In contrast to the explicit Sabbath commandment, the bible nowhere asks us to make Sunday, or any other day of the week, a day of rest.
As a Sabbatarian I can wholeheartedly say that NOT having to work one day a week, is a blessing that I wouldn't trade away for anything in this world. Having one unbroken day of the week that I freely can make use of to worship God, deepens my relationship with God and gives me spiritual, mental and physical strength for the days ahead of me.
I don't deny that many sincere Christians have benefited from observing Sunday as a day of rest, yet there is no biblical basis for keeping Sunday as a holy day. As Christians we should let God and the Bible guide our lives, not human tradition.
Paul confirms that the moral law still is binding for Christians
Let me first of all point out that Sabbatarians don't deny that there is a set of laws that were nullified by the cross. We believe that Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial law, he was the true sacrificial lamb (John 1:29), and is our High Priest in heaven today. (Hebrews 8:1-3.) Therefore the law that regulated the ministry in the earthly tabernacle is surpassed by the reality, it is fulfilled in Christ and abolished. (Hebrews 7:18-19.)
However, there is a law that is just as binding today as it always has been, namely the moral law of love, as expressed in the ten commandments. This law can never be abolished, because it is an expression of divine love. Paul confirmed that this law still is binding for Christians:
Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law. - Romans 3:31 (NASB)
A life lived in harmony with this moral law demonstrates that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and that we're renewed by the power of the gospel. Paul speaks of the moral law when he says:
The one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet, (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. - Romans 13:8-10
The moral law is a reflection of God's character, his glory and love, and therefore it can never be abolished, simply because God never changes. The law shows us God's standard and it reveals that we're sinners, while the gospel shows us that by the blood of Jesus all our sins are forgiven, and through him we receive strength to live holy lives.
James addresses this when he talks about the law of liberty:
"For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out he will be blessed in what he does." - James 1:23-25
The Sabbath is at the very centre of the moral law as expressed in the ten commandments. (Exodus chapter 20.) The first half of the ten commandments deals with our duty to God, while the second half deals with the duty towards man. Interestingly the Sabbath commandment belongs to both sections. On one hand the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on the other hand it is also a day where we let other people rest from their labour: you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. - Exodus 20:10
Because the apostles unanimously confirm that the moral law isn't abolished, Christians are still to rest on the Sabbath. The notion that the Sabbath has been abolished cannot be supported from the bible alone.
Isn't it legalism to keep the Sabbath?
No, keeping the law is a result of being justified by faith, we aren't justified because we keep the law. Deeds done in love (keeping the law, Romans 13:8-10) are fruits (Romans 7:4) that comes from our relationship with the risen Saviour, they can never be the foundation of our relationship with God.
Christians are not under the law, (Romans 7:6) meaning that the law cannot condemn us, because our sins are forgiven. We keep the law and do good deeds as fruits that we present to God, and not to earn righteousness by fulfilling the demands of the law.
Christ kept the law of love perfectly, and in him we can appear before God as if we never have sinned. By his blood he atoned for our sins, and by his perfect life he fulfilled the demands of the law. Therefore a true observance of the biblical Sabbath springs out of our relationship with God.
Yes, Jesus fulfilled all the laws, including the moral law and the Sabbath, but if we're driven by the Spirit, Christ will be our model pattern, and we will demonstrate that we have the fruits of the Spirit.
Was the Sabbath just a shadow that typified our rest in Christ?
It is true that the writer of Hebrews talks of a Sabbath rest still remaining for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9.) If we read this verse in its context, we see that he talks about heaven where we will see God and Jesus face to face. But nowhere does he state that our future heavenly rest has invalidated the Sabbath commandment, in fact this passage becomes pointless if those addressed didn't keep the Sabbath. How can heaven be a Sabbath rest if we as Christians aren't supposed to rest on the Sabbath?
The Sabbath cannot be compared to the ceremonial days of the old pact, simply because it was instituted at the creation, before man sinned and needed a Saviour. On the other hand, the ceremonial days we find in the mosaic law were instituted after man sinned and foreshadowed the work of our redeemer.
I don't deny that the Sabbath also is to be a celebration of the redemptive power of God, but in no way was it meant to be a temporary shadow.
There is no proof of a controversy regarding the Sabbath during the time of the apostles
It's true that there's not that many passages in the New Testament that deal with the Sabbath, but this is no proof that the observance of Sabbath was discontinued. A simple explanation of this is that keeping the Sabbath was universal and uncontroversial at the time when the New Testament was written. There's not much written about the Sabbath in the New Testament simply because there was no need to address this issue at the time.
In fact, because there is relatively little written about the Sabbath in the New Testament, it is unimaginable that the apostles taught that it was abolished, because such a claim would inevitably have generated a huge controversy among the believers of Jewish origin. We find no such controversy in the New Testament, instead the hot topic was whether gentile believers should follow the ritual law and be circumcised!
Isn't Sunday the Lord's day, a New Sabbath?
People claim that since Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday, this day is supposed to be our new day of worship.
Of course, nobody denies that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week Sunday, but there is no Biblical evidence that this day was meant to replace the seventh day Sabbath.
It is also true that the Christian church eventually begun keeping the Sunday as a holy day, and eventually was called the Lord's day in Christian settings, presumably because he was resurrected on Sunday. But if we're going to argue solely from a biblical point of view, the seventh day Sabbath is the only day that legitimately can be called the Lord's day:
The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath. - Matthew 12:8
That Jesus rose on Sunday is no valid justification to make Sunday a day of worship instead of the biblical Sabbath. Jesus rose on Sunday, but he died for our sins on a Friday. Remembering his inglorious death on the cross is just as essential for Christians as recalling his glorious resurrection, so there is no biblical reason for Sunday to be a holier day than Friday.
The reason why the Sabbath is no longer remembered in much of Christianity isn't a theological one, but a historical one. If you're interested in how Sunday replaced the Sabbath as a day of worship, Wikipedia is a good place to begin:
Sabbath in Christianity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
