Colossians 2:Does it negate The Sabbath?

Parsifal23 · #1 (**permalink**) 04-08-2009, 04:25 PM

I attend an church where most of the people favor an New Covenant Theology view of the Sabbath and one of there favorite texts to use is colossians 2 in reference to negating sabbath observance if this does not negate sabbath observance what is Paul speaking against?

OPC'n · #2 (**permalink**) 04-08-2009, 04:29 PM

You will find that some Sabbatarians view this verse as the ceremonial sabbaths. Joseph A. Pipa who is also a Sabbatarian thinks it is speaking of the Jewish Sabbath and is a call for NT Sabbatarians to leave the Jewish Sabbath behind and take up the Christian Sabbath...change of day etc

Davidius · #3 (**permalink**) 04-08-2009, 04:32 PM

If I remember correctly, Michael Horton of Westminster Seminary California expounds this view in his book on the ten commandments.

I don't really know what to think. The statement falls within a general exhortation not to get in a fuss over those who "esteem one day above another," which is pretty much what the celebration of any Sabbath day, general or particular is. Since much of Paul's argumentation is aimed to fending off Judaizers, and since keeping of the Sabbath is one of the absolute essentials of being a real Jew, I think he definitely could have been more clear in saying that he only meant the "other," less frequent festival days referred to as "Sabbaths."

On the other hand, the word "Sabbath" continues to be used after Christ's resurrection to refer to the 6th day of the week celebrated by the Jews. It is possible that our problem with this text results from the confusion of the "Sabbath" with the "Lord's Day." Maybe Paul meant that we shouldn't care about Christians who want to celebrate the 6th day of the week because they liked Jewish things, as long as they also celebrated the Lord's Day on the 1st day of the week.

Just thinking about it confuses me.

larryjf · #4 (**permalink**) 04-08-2009, 05:35 PM

Colossians 2 seems to be dealing with the teachings of men, not God...

8: See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

22: (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?

There is also the idea of being forgiven by God through Christ for breaking His commands...

13-14: When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

This does not mean that we are not to live our lives according to God's moral law, but rather that we will not be judged for breaking it if we are found in Christ. After all, we don't follow the moral law in order to be saved, but because we are saved we show God our love by them.

**KMK** · #5 (**permalink**) 04-08-2009, 05:42 PM

Here is a post by Rev Greco from another thread:
http://www.puritanboard.com/541724-post5.html

This reply comes from this thread: Seeking Counsel on Sabbatarianism

JoeRe4mer · #6 (**permalink**) 04-08-2009, 05:48 PM

The best current book that deals with the subject is Richard Barcellos's work In Defense of the Decalogue. I spoke with Rich personally about this issue and I think he gives one of the best defenses of the traditional Puritan view of the Sabbath, while at the same time giving a powerful argument against New Covenant Theology.

Below is a review and a link to a site where you can buy the book.

Banner of Truth Trust

In Defense of the Decalogue: A Critique of New Covenant Theology - By: Richard Barcellos - Christianbook.com

Scott1 · #7 (**permalink**) 04-08-2009, 06:11 PM

Step back for a moment and put this in context.

Is it reasonable to construe this as picking one commandment in the midst of the Ten and, in one (unclear context) verse, abrogating a fundamental component of the moral law?

Let alone, a creation ordinance, pre-dating even the Ten?

No, this is not speaking of the Fourth Commandment to say, don't let anyone judge you if you obey nine of the Ten, but not number four.

It is referring to ceremonies connected with Sabbath days (cf Numbers 28). There was an elaborate set of "ceremony" connected with Sabbath days and some of them might be termed "ceremonial sabbaths," but this is not the moral perpetual command to cease one day in seven and focus worship on God.

[Post 5, linking to Reverend Greco's exegesis of the passage to Greek showing in context that this is referring to "ceremonial sabbaths" related to moons and celebrations and sacrifices under the Levitical law, not the fourth commandment is helpful].

Man covets "his" time and money and the forth commandment is a check on that, an integral part of worshipping God, and related really to the other commandments. Indeed, the Westminster Larger catechism summarizes the doctrine of Scripture to say:

Quote:

Q. 121. Why is the word Remember set in the beginning of the fourth commandment?

A. The word Remember is set in the beginning of the fourth commandment,[637] partly, because of the great benefit of remembering it, we being thereby helped in our preparation to keep it,[638] and, in keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments,[639] and to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of religion;[640] and partly, because we are very ready to forget it,[641] for that there is less light of nature for it,[642] and yet it restraineth our natural liberty in things at other times lawful;[643] that it cometh but once in seven days, and many worldly businesses come between, and too often take off our minds from thinking of it, either to prepare for it, or to sanctify it;[644] and that Satan with his instruments labours much to blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, to bring in all irreligion and impiety.[645]

Quote:

Scripture proofs

[637] Exodus 20:8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

[638] Exodus 16:23. And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. Luke 23:54, 56. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.... And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. Mark 15:42. And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath. Nehemiah 13:19. And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

[639] Psalm 92 (title: A psalm or song for the sabbath-day)7 compared with vv. 13-14: Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing. Ezekiel 20:12, 19-20. Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.... I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

[640] Genesis 2:2-3. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Psalm 118:22, 24. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.... This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Acts 4:10-11. Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Revelation 1:10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.

[641] Ezekiel 22:26. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

[642] Nehemiah 9:14. And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.

[643] Exodus 34:21. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.

[644] Deuteronomy 5:14-15. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. Amos 8:5. Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

[645] Lamentations 1:7. Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths. Jeremiah 17:21-23. Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. Nehemiah 13:15-22. In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.

DonP · #8 (**permalink**) 04-08-2009, 06:43 PM

Matt 5:18-20
8 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. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
NKJV

Col 2:16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. NKJV

The 10 commandments are not a shadow of things to come.

That was the ceremonial law. I would have a hard time siting under the preaching of a man who could not understand the difference here and did not have better exegetical skill than to say one of the 10 is gone.

I am not sure what least in the Kingdom means but would not want to be below him

chbrooking · #9 (**permalink**) 04-17-2009, 10:41 PM

I found the "Report of the Committee on Sabbath Matters" for the OPC to be very helpful. Gaffin's treatment is trenchant. I think you'd have to be a genius to get to it on your own. I have no doubt about Gaffin's genius, though, especially when it comes to exegesis. You'll also find articulation of dissent on this reading, though -- or at least charitability toward opposing views.

The link is here (I'm new, so I guess this is how you guys post links)

Report of the Committee on Sabbath Matters

Yep, it worked.

Rich Barcellos · #10 (**permalink**) 05-28-2009, 12:15 AM

Here's a brief piece I wrote published in the Reformed Baptist Theological Review.

The OT clearly prophesies the abrogation and cessation of ancient Israel’s Sabbaths. It does so in Hos. 2:11, which says, “I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths--all her appointed feasts.” We will make several observations that bear this out. First, Hosea’s prophecy is dealing with the days of the New Covenant. The phrase “in that day” (vv. 16, 18, 21) is used prophetically of New Covenant days in Is. 22:20. Revelation 3:7 quotes Is. 22:22 and applies it to Christ. The prophecy in Is. 22:20 mentions the Lord’s servant, who is Christ. Isaiah 22:20-22 says:

Then it shall be in that day, that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open. (Is. 22:20-22)

Revelation 3:7, quoting Is. 22:22, says:

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, “These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.” (Rev. 3:7)

The phrase, “in that day,” refers to the days of Christ–the days of the New Covenant. Paul references Hos. 1:10 and 2:23 in Rom. 9:25, applying them to Christians. “As He says also in Hosea: ‘I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved’” (Rom. 9:25). Peter references Hos. 1:9-10 and 2:23 in 1 Pet. 2:10 and applies them to Christians as well. He says, “who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Pet. 2:10). Hosea is clearly speaking of New Covenant days. According to the NT usage of Hosea, he is speaking of the time in redemptive history when God will bring Gentiles into a saving relationship with Jews. Much of the NT deals with this very issue.
Second, Hos. 2:11 clearly prophesies the abrogation of Old Covenant Israel’s Sabbaths, along with “all her appointed feasts.” Hosea uses a triad of terms (“feast days, New Moons, Sabbaths”) that is used many places in the OT (1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 31:3; Neh. 10:33; and Is. 1:13-14). Clearly, he is speaking of the abrogation of Old Covenant ceremonial laws. When the Old Covenant goes, Israel’s feast days, New Moons, Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts go with it.
Third, the NT confirms this understanding of Hos. 2:11. It uses this triad of terms in Col. 2:16, which says, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths.” In the context, Paul is combating those who were attempting to impose Old Covenant ceremonial law on New Covenant Christians. So Col. 2:16 is clear NT language that sees Hosea’s prophecy as fulfilled. It is of interest to note that Paul uses the plural for Sabbath in Col. 2:16 (sabba,twn). It is not too hard to assume that Paul had the OT triad in mind and Hosea’s prophecy while penning these words. The NT announces the abrogation of the Old Covenant in many places. For instance, 2 Cor. 3:7-18; Gal. 3-4; Eph. 2:14-16; and Heb. 8-10 (cf. esp. 8:6-7, 13; 9:9-10, 15; 10:1, 15-18) are clear that the Old Covenant has been abrogated.

But now He [Christ] has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant [the New Covenant], which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant [the Old Covenant] had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. (Heb. 8:6-7)

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. (Heb. 8:13)

It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience--concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. (Heb. 9:9-10)

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Heb. 9:15)

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. (Heb. 10:1)

But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “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,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. (Heb. 10:15-18)

The Old Covenant and all its ceremonies are obsolete and have vanished away (Heb. 8:13). Taking these passages and Col. 2:16 together, they clearly teach that when the Old Covenant goes, the triad of Col. 2:16 goes as well.
>>>>>>>>>

Having said that, I also believe that the Old Testament prophesies the perpetuity and continuation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant. But that's beyond the scope of this thread.

***Joshua*** · #11 (**permalink**) 05-28-2009, 12:33 AM

Here's a sermon my Pastor preached that deals with the misconception of what "sabbath days" means in the Colossians passage. Very very good, IMHO:

http://christcovenantreformedpc.org/...bid=65&mid=380

Romans922 · #12 (**permalink**) 05-28-2009, 10:07 AM

If the Sabbath is negated, then the Lord is the Lord of NOTHING!

"Lord of the Sabbath"