The
Seventh Day Sabbath Discussion - 3
Objection
# 1
Christians
are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8). They are “justified
by faith in Christ and not by works of the law; for by the works of the law no
flesh shall be justified.” (Gal. 2:16) No person can be justified or saved by
keeping the Ten Commandments which is the works of the Law, so Christians do
not have to keep the Seventh Day Sabbath to receive salvation.
Response
# 1
It is
true that Christians are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is also true that no person
can be justified or saved by keeping the Ten Commandments that include keeping
the Seventh Day Sabbath. We keep the Ten
Commandments and observe the Seventh Day Sabbath not because we want to be
saved, but because we are already saved, and we need to be sanctified to
maintain our status of salvation.
The salvation process of
Christians may be illustrated by making a parallel comparison between the children of
Justification is the judicial act of
God Who removes sin from every person through
repentance; belief and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her
personal Savior and baptism into Him.
Justification is the initial stage of salvation.
Sanctification means separation,
setting apart. It is God’s way to
separate the Christians from the worldly people and their way of life. Another word for sanctification is
consecration for God. In an ethical
sense it means the progressive conformation of the believer into the image of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the process
by which the life is made morally holy.
Sanctification is through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the work of the Holy Spirit. It
begins at regeneration and is completed when we see the Lord at His Return. This final phase of salvation is called glorification.
Keeping the Seventh Day
Sabbath is not for justification, but it is for sanctification. God had already sanctified the Seventh Day at
Creation (Gen. 2:3). That makes the
Seventh Day Sabbath a holy day. A day
that is sanctified by God cannot me treated like any other day. When God’s people keep the Seventh Day
Sabbath holy, then they also become holy because in their observance of that
day by worshiping Him they become sanctified by God.
“. . . Surely My
Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me
and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who
sanctifies you.” (Ex. 31:13)
It is significant to
note that after one and a half month of departure from
It is essential for the Christian to observe the
Seventh Day Sabbath for sanctification.
If we look upon the journey from Egypt to Canaan as an objective lesson
in how to enter the Promised Land then it has much to teach us regarding the
Sabbath’s importance in reaching our Final Destination. (Heb. 4:1-8)
“There remains therefore a [Sabbath] rest for the
people of God. For he who has entered
His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us be diligent to enter that rest, lest
anyone fall after the example of disobedience.” (Heb.
4:9-11)
Keeping the Seventh Day Sabbath was placed in
the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:8-11) God
reminded Israel to keep the Sabbath when they entered Canaan (Deut.
5:12-15) The Seventh Day Sabbath represents
the Christian’s future rest in heaven
(Heb. 4:1-11).
Objection # 2
The Ten Commandments that include keeping the
Seventh Day Sabbath was given to the children of
Response # 2
Some make the fatal error in teaching the Ten
Commandments have been abrogated in the New Covenant. The Bible clearly shows this teaching is
absolutely wrong. Read Hebrews 8:6-13.
6 “But now He has obtained
a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better
covenant, which was established on better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been
faultless, then no place would have been sought for a
second.
8 Because finding fault with them, He says:
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of
9 not according to the covenant that I made
with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of
the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I
disregarded them, says the LORD.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their
mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be
My people.
11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, "Know the
LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and
their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
13 In that He says, "A new covenant,"
He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old
is ready to vanish away.
Did God say that He would abolish His Laws in
the New Covenant.
Absolutely NOT! Please pay
close attention. God says: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Again God repeats His
New Covenant through the Holy Spirit in Hebrews 10:14-20.
14 “For by one offering He
has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also
witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 This is the covenant that
I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write
them,"
17 Then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no
more."
18 Now where there is remission
of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
19 Therefore, brethren,
having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 by a new and living
way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,”
Then again people will
argue, “We are Gentile believers and we are not in the house of
11 “Therefore remember
that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision
by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—
12 that at that time you
were without Christ, being aliens from the
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far
off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one,
and has broken down the middle wall of separation,”
The
shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ did not abolish the Law. On the other hand it makes the believers even
more aware of the Laws of God. In the
Old Covenant the Laws were engraved on stone tablets, but in the New Covenant
God says: “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those
days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their
hearts, and in their minds I will write them," (Heb.
In the New
Covenant “the
handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having
nailed to the cross. . . . Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink,
or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things
to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (
God’s Laws were first given to Israel, but they rest
on eternal moral principals that are consistent with God’s character. Thus it is a summary of fundamental and
universal moral standards. It expresses
the essence of what God requires of all people.
That is why the Ten Commandments will be the basis for the Final
Judgment of mankind (Ecc.
The Fourth Commandment
specifically states: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. . . .” (Ex. 20:8) This is
God’s commandment given to mankind. The Sabbath
day is the seventh day of the week. If
you look on your calendar it is Saturday.
Sunday is the first day of the week.
You cannot argue with that.
The Lord Jesus Christ
had already died on the Cross. He had
already shed His blood to redeem mankind from sin. He was buried in the tomb. “And the women who had come with Him from
On the day the Lord Jesus Christ
ascended to heaven the disciples “returned to
In the Book of Acts there are many
recordings of the apostles in the
You can read the whole Bible and you
will not find one single word from our Father God, who is our Creator, that He
abolished the Seventh Day Sabbath. You
will also not find one single word from our Savior Jesus Christ, who is “Lord of the Sabbath”,
that He abolished the Seventh Day Sabbath and replaced it with worshiping on
another day. Hebrews 4:4-11.
4 For he spake
in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the
seventh day from all his works.
5 And in this place again, If
they shall enter into my rest.
6 Seeing therefore it remaineth
that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered
not in because of unbelief:
7 Again, he limiteth
a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long
a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.
8 For if Jesus had given them
rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remaineth therefore a (Sabbath) rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath
ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11 Let us labour
therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief.
Objection # 3
Only nine of the Ten
Commandments are repeated in the New Testament therefore Christians are bound
to keep them. The Seventh Day Sabbath commandment
is not repeated in the New Testament because it is given only to the Jews
therefore Gentile Christians do not have to keep it.
Response # 3
Since nine of the Ten
Commandments are not in dispute and only the Fourth Commandment is disputed,
therefore we shall show the Scripture verses in the New Testament that concerns
the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles and the
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Ex. 20:8-11)
Here
are some Scripture verses of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Sabbath.
"For the Son of man
is Lord even of the Sabbath." (Mt. 12:8)
"So He came to
"And He said to
them,’ The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." (Mk. 2:27)
“Then He said to them,
"What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit
on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more
value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then He said to the man,
"Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and it was restored
as whole as the other.” (Mt.
12:11-13)
Here
are Scripture verses showing the disciples of Jesus Christ keeping the Seventh
Day Sabbath after His death and burial.
“And the women who had
come with Him from
"Now when the
Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought
sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him." (Mk. 16:1)
This
is a Scripture verse showing the disciples of Christ
would be keeping the Sabbath in 70 AD when the Roman army destroyed
"And pray that your
flight may be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath." (Mt.
24:20)
Here
are many Scriptural verses indicating the apostle Paul keeping the Sabbath and
preaching to the Gentiles in Gentile cities.
“And when the Jews went
out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to
them the next Sabbath. . . . And the next Sabbath almost the whole city came
together to hear the word of God.” (Acts 13:42-44)
“Then Paul, as his custom
was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the
Scriptures.” (Acts 17:2)
“And he reasoned in the
synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.” (Acts 18:4)
Here
is a very compelling verse that indicates the “people of God” must follow God’s example to keep
the Seventh Day Sabbath.
“There remains therefore
a [Sabbath] rest for the people of God.
For he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works
as God did from His.” (Heb.
4:9-10)
Many people have the
wrong idea about the Ten Commandments.
They think it is like the buffet dinner with ten different dishes, and
they just pick what they like to eat.
God presented the Ten Commandments as one entity, or as we call it, one
whole package. He did not give the
commandments one at a time spreading over several occasions. The Ten Commandments were written “with the finger of
God” and presented altogether at one time. (Ex. 31:18) Our Lord Jesus Christ taught and confirmed the
Ten Commandments must be taken together as one unit, and not even one
commandment can be broken. (Mt. 5:17-19)
The integrity of keeping every one of the Ten Commandments is reiterated
in the Epistle of James:
“If you really fulfill the
royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are
convicted of the law as transgressors.
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he
is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do
not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do
murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” (Jas. 2:8-11)
Detractors of keeping all the Ten Commandments are fond of misusing
these verses to dissuade Christians from following the teachings of the Holy
Bible. They often discourage the keeping
of the Ten Commandments by saying: “Look, it is impossible to keep all the Ten
Commandments. When you break one it is
like breaking all of them. Why
jeopardize your salvation? We are not
saved by the law anyway, so why even try to keep the Ten Commandments at all?” This is an erroneous doctrine. The intent and purpose of James’ epistle is
not to discourage people from keeping the Ten Commandments. On the contrary they are warning signals that
Christians cannot break any one of the Ten Commandments. We must distinguish truth from falsehood.
The Lord Jesus Christ
solidifies the truth that the Ten Commandments which include the Seventh Day
Sabbath Commandment were not abolished and every one of the commandments must
be kept – Matthew 5:17-19
17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the
Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth
pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means
pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of
these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of
heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.
Objection # 4
How can
a loving and merciful God judge and condemn Christians for not keeping the
Seventh Day Sabbath when they have sincerely worshiped Him on another day? How can God judge heathens and people in
backward countries for not keeping the Seventh Day Sabbath when they do not
even know the existence of God?
Response
# 4
“And it is appointed for
men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Heb. 9:22)
“For the time has come
for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what
will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17)
There is going to be a Final
Judgment for every person, beginning with the Jewish and Gentile Christians in
the Church and then the unbelievers.
This is clearly stated in many passages of Scripture. Every single
person will one day stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and be judged for his or
her deeds (Acts
1 The whole race of
Adam without a single exception (Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 20:11-15); and
2 The fallen angels
(2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6).
At the Final Judgment on
the Last Day a sentence will be passed on to every person who have lived on
this earth (Matt. 25; Rom.
The rule of judgment is
the standard of God's law as revealed to mankind.
1 The Commandments
of God since keeping them is “the whole duty of man” (Ecc.
2 The human
conscience that has the natural ability to know what is good and what is evil
(Gen. 3:22).
“For there is no
partiality with God. For as many as have
sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in
the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in
the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when the
Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things contained in the
law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the
work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness,
and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the
day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my
gospel.” (
God is impartial, fair
and just. The Gentile
who has never known God, never read the Bible, never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
will be judged by his or her conscience.
But how many persons can be saved by that standard?
“As it is written:
There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks God. They have
all gone out of the way; they have altogether become unprofitable; There is none who
does good, no, not one.” (
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom.
Every person who is born
in sin can never be saved from sin and be reconciled to God except by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ultimate
standard of judgment is still the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
3. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ (Rom.
1 Moreover, brethren, I
declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and
in which you stand,
2 by which also you are
saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you – unless you believed
in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first
of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to
our Scriptures,
4. and that He was buried,
and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
The Gospel also includes
keeping of the Seventh Day Sabbath that God established at the time of Creation
(Heb. 4:1-13).
1 Therefore, since a
promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have
come short of it.
2 For indeed the gospel was preached
to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not
being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
3 For we who have believed do
enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, "They shall
not enter My rest,"' although the works were finished from the foundation
of the world.
4 For He
has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God
rested on the seventh day from all His works";
5 and again in
this place: "They shall not enter My rest."
6 Since therefore it remains that
some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter
because of disobedience,
7 again He
designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long
time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not
harden your hearts."
8 For if Joshua
(Jesus in KJV) had given them rest, then He would not
afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remains
therefore a (Sabbath) rest for the people of God.
10 For he who has entered
His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
11 Let us
therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the
same example of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is
living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 And there
is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
May God bless
you
Link to: Sabbath Truths that are easy to understand
This article is a presentation of Paul Wong
to the ARK Forum on
For
comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
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Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International. |
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