Why do christians today reject the sabbath?

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The most beautiful summary of the doctrine of Scripture regarding the Fourth Commandment:

Westminster Confession of Faith
Chapter XXI

VII. As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages, He has particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him:[34] which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week: and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week,[35] which, in Scripture, is called the Lord's Day,[36] and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath.[37]

VIII. This Sabbath is to be kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their wordly employments and recreations,[38] but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.[39]
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I'm not arguing, in fact I've tried to say NO ONE should be arguing. I just didn't follow my own advice since no one else wanted to either. Not that I should use that as an excuse, jut stating the facts. If it we're up to me this and the other thread would have been locked long ago.
 
Choosing to ignore the Dispensational rhetoric...

Blueridge Believer said:
I did not post this to argue with christians who reject it but to try and get them to really put some time into study on the matter. God bless you all today
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Define "reject." While my position on the Sabbath is different, that does not mean I reject it. I reject it according to a strict-sabbatarian position. But neither am I bound by the laws of strict-sabbatarian. If I were, then my conscience would be bound by men rather than God.

I don't propose this to debate, but because there has been an incredible lack of graciousness by many who hold to a strict sabbath observance. I find that antithetical to Christ's teaching in His sermon on the mount, where He defines all the other commandments in relation to a heart issue. Furthermore, the law is distilled down to two great commandments, neither of which focuses on the Sabbath as it pertains to Mosaic Law.

My preparation for Sunday begins Monday morning. I rarely miss a day in focused prayer and times of devotion, both alone and with my family. We strive to avoid having guests on Saturday nights so that we can focus on preparing our hearts for Sunday morning. Sundays after services we enjoy a meal with fellow believers and ask questions about what God has been doing in their lives, daily and in services. All of this focuses on resting in Christ as both our current Sabbath and our eternal Sabbath. By the way, I "work" every Sunday.

The "God does not change" argument fails. God's character does not change, but the manner in which He interacts with men does. If that were not the case then we would still be sacrificing animals, putting tassels on our skirts and considering the Sabbath to be Saturday. Such argumentation holds no water and attempts to put those in disagreement on their heels by implying that they denigrate the immutability of God.

Again, I've offered this for an explanation. I realize my post is somewhat confrontational, but I do not intend to argue other than offer this perspective. My perspective is that those who impose strict observance are of the stripe that Jesus confronts in regard to the Sabbath. On the other hand, I highly respect those who do so out of a conscience-bound love for God.

May you all be greatly enriched this Lord's Day, for the glory of God.
 
I don't propose this to debate, but because there has been an incredible lack of graciousness by many who hold to a strict sabbath observance. I find that antithetical to Christ's teaching in His sermon on the mount, where He defines all the other commandments in relation to a heart issue. Furthermore, the law is distilled down to two great commandments, neither of which focuses on the Sabbath as it pertains to Mosaic Law.
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There are two issues at play here. 1. The nature of the Christian sabbath and its observance. 2. Our attitude towards other believers who differ with us.

In arguing for the nature of the Christian sabbath and its observance, it doesn't help the discussion to wring our hands with statements such as, "I don't know why you don't get it?" As with the oft discussed baptism topic, make your arguments based on scripture and sound logic. Appeal to the confession you subscribe to and be at peace in your own heart.

How should we deal with a brother who disagrees with our sabbath position? It's really quite simple. Present your case and let it speak for itself. Don't ridicule, belittle or take ad hom pot shots at your brother. Be willing to disengage and recognize that it's not up to you to convert your brothers view on a message board. Many of us on the PB are only a few years removed from theological practices that were anything but reformed. The Lord brought us to where we are through a process. That process is far from complete (Phil. 1:6).

Wisdom knows when to be quiet.
 
We have ZERO ways of knowing if our, say Tuesday happens to be a +7 multiple of the 3rd Day of Creation. In fact, its demonstrable from Scripture that it has only a 1/7 chance of being so. That is, God himself has prevented us from knowing that datum.
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Then we have no idea which day is Sunday. I don't believe God left mankind so ignorant. Throughout Scripture from Adam till Christ's 1st coming, God's people knew when to observe the Sabbath. This knowledge was given to Adam who handed it down to his son and so forth. Ex 16 indicates that the Israelites knew when the Sabbath was for they gathered twice the amount of food on Fri for Sat without Moses telling them to do so. And they did this twice gathering after they kept their leftovers in an earlier verse which rotted and stank and were then verbally thrashed by Moses.
 
PuritanBouncer said:
So in the end, what's the use?
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I personally think it's very important to bring this up as it is a point of scripture that is being foolishly overlooked more and more in this generation.

I live on an Island where the ferry does not sail on the Sabbath and where 4000 out of an 18,000 population signed a petition to keep it that way. Most shops do not open, our sports centre is shut, practically the only things open on the Sabbath are churches. I thank the Lord for this, pray that it stays this way and know that it is richly blessed to the island.

David
 
I think this thread should just be the no-recreation Sabbath keepers giving scriptural advice to those who do recreate on Sundays. There are people who consider Sunday the "Lords Day," and other people who call it the Sabbath, and some who do both. On this board, we are bound by the PB rules to call it, and treat it, as a Sabbath rest b/c we gladly agreed to hold the Confessions (and since we can still see even various ways that the Confessions can go (ie: when does Sabbath begin and end, what "recreations" are permitted, etc,) arguing over such clauses may lead to trouble. I'm sure most of the mods have a belief concerning this, and the board itself is probably anti-recreation on the Sabbath. Since the mods are the ones who are here to help us stay in line on the boards, then maybe we shouldn't interact. I am afraid that we might get in trouble, or get others in trouble.

On the other thread I admitted to watching the Superbowl tomorrow evening. It was sort of a knee-jerk reaction, because that is honestly what I'll be doing and I was sort of annoyed that someone wanted to convict me otherwise. However, looking back, I think that thread should have been addressed to those who hold to no recreation on Sundays, and I should have just ignored it. I think in this law forum, we are to be discussing the law of God, sure. But I do not think we should be trying to catch people in their "sin," (perceived or real) and I don't think we should be calling people to defend something that may get them in trouble on the Puritan Board.

Not that I've gotten in trouble for the few posts I've posted on the matter. But I just looked over the rules again, and it made me think that next time I see that I have a PM it could be another warning! I don't think the mods would be wrong in sending a warning, necessarily, so I think we should try to make their lives easier and not debate things that can earn half of us warnings!!

Mods, maybe I am way off and this type of debate is fine. If so, sorry, and please don't warn me just for the heck of it!!!!:)
 
Time for a time out until maybe Monday morning.

-----Added 2/2/2009 at 03:55:55 EST-----

Thread reopened. N.B. This is a Confessional board. The governing standard, Westminster, is clearly Sabbatarian. We allow discussion of the doctrine, but we don't allow trashing the confessional position (see Rich's post on the RPW which is appropriate in this instance as well). Feel free to ask questions and raise objections. However, non-Sabbatarians should accept that Sabbatarians will think something is Sabbath-breaking and a violation of the fourth commandment, and therefore a sin by consequence. On the other side, it would do well for Sabbatarians on the board to be winsome in their argumentation for the Confessional position. Now, as with any thread and topic, if anyone gets ugly or personal don't return in kind but either ignore it or if egregious, make use of the report a post feature to bring it to the moderator's attention. Thanks. Carry on, winsomely.
 
sjonee said:
We have ZERO ways of knowing if our, say Tuesday happens to be a +7 multiple of the 3rd Day of Creation. In fact, its demonstrable from Scripture that it has only a 1/7 chance of being so. That is, God himself has prevented us from knowing that datum.
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Then we have no idea which day is Sunday. I don't believe God left mankind so ignorant. Throughout Scripture from Adam till Christ's 1st coming, God's people knew when to observe the Sabbath. This knowledge was given to Adam who handed it down to his son and so forth. Ex 16 indicates that the Israelites knew when the Sabbath was for they gathered twice the amount of food on Fri for Sat without Moses telling them to do so. And they did this twice gathering after they kept their leftovers in an earlier verse which rotted and stank and were then verbally thrashed by Moses.
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I do. Yesterday was Sunday. :p

Also, sjonee, I don't know if you looked up the passage you referred to or not so I'll transcribe it:

Exodus 16:23(NIV) said:
He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
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So yeah, the Israelites knew all right. But not because it had been passed down to them by their fathers. God dictated it to them directly--well, directly through Moses, anyway.

With that said, I think that God's pattern of "one day out of seven" is what's important, not which one day out of seven. The only thing is, I don't know of any churches that hold services on Monday, so you might be stuck with either Saturday or Sunday. ;)

Finally, not all countries begin their week on a Sunday. United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, most of Europe, parts of Asia, and some others begin on Monday.

That being the case, the last day of the week is a Sunday, so everyone is happy. ;)
 
I took exception to the WCF at joining my Church on the subject of the Sabbath, because I honestly have not found that position in scripture. I am wrestling with it now, due to the fact that many folks whom I hold in high regard are sabbatarian.

When I first approached it many years ago, I had no dog in the hunt, I only wanted to determine what God had said about it and follow His directions. I had not heard arguments either way, only had seen that some christians were sabbatarian and some weren't.

So first I tried to determine what day was the Sabbath, the seventh or the first. I read some of the explanations that said something about the Mary's going to the tomb at the 'end of the Sabbath', as though that inferred that 7th day Sabbath was over, and a new day was now set aside. But then in reading Acts I found that Paul was meeting with the Jews on what scripture called the Sabbath many years after the ascension. Since these Jews were not yet converted, it meant they were meeting on the 7th day, yet the Holy Spirit called it the Sabbath, so I concluded that the 7th day must be right.

Then I studied this:

Col 2:16-17 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: (17) Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
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Sabbath days were included in a list of things that had been shadows, but were now fulfilled, so it appeared that the Spirit was saying that the keeping of it was as necessary as keeping the dietary laws, and that none should be judged in it. Then the scripture goes on to say:

Col 2:18-19 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, (19) And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
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So it appeared to me that doing the things in the list prior could fall into a category of voluntary humility. I also noted that one of the faults the Lord pointed out in the Pharisees was that they had added rituals and requirements to salvation that were not in the scripture, and condemned others for not keeping them. This seemed like it was possibly a similar thing.

I have also seen many instances in the Church where a man-made practice that has no basis in scripture has been made into a law because so-and-so said it ought to be way back when, like the Amish wearing funny clothes, and then the practice become more important than the scripture, so I was leery.

That has been my take for a number of years. I am not moved by the fact that certain men of renown have been sabbatarians, because I have read many great theologians who were accurate in vast areas of biblical thought, and yet glaringly erroneous in others. The same can be said of confessions - none are infallible.

So here I sit trying to come to terms with what many of my brothers admonish me to believe on the matter. I came to my conclusions by no means out of a desire to do my own pleasure on Sunday - I just wanted to know what God required. I concede that a true sabbatarian could equate my position with condoning adultery, and by the same token I can see where a non-sabbatarian could charge the sabbatarian with the equivalent of being a Judaizer. Either charge would amount to rank, notorious sin if true.

I admire and subscribe to the rest of the confession (at least to the extent that I understand it), but above being confessionally obedient I desire to be biblically obedient. So please, I know there are competent teachers on PB, could one that holds to sabbatarianism prove to me my error from scripture alone? Leaving out confessions, commentaries, traditions or history other than what scripture directly addresses? And then proceed to delineate how much of the OT Sabbath proscriptions we should and should not hold, and why? Should I be stoned for walking out back and carrying a load of firewood up on Sunday? If not, why not?

I'm not trying to be facetious, I seriously want to come to the right, biblical, conclusion in this matter. If my inquiry is out-of-bounds on PB, please mods, feel free to delete this post, and if called for, administer whatever discipline you deem appropriate.

Thanks.

Edit: Since no-one has responded yet, I thought I should add that I do consider the first day to be the Lord's day referred to in the Revelation, and the first day of the week as described in Acts and 1 Cor. to be the appropriate day for worship as prescribed by scripture, but can't be the Sabbath as the seventh day is called such in the Acts. I agree that christians are called to obey the decalogue, and all the moral law, which is perfect and altogether lovely. But the inclusion of sabbath days with the other shadows would indicate that some change has been made to it's administration. In studying that, the only conclusion that seemed to make sense was that, as Christ is our Sabbath rest, honoring the Sabbath must refer to honoring Christ, not a single day bound up with 'touch nots, taste nots, & handle nots', but every day and always. (Still haven't figured out how to do that add-on thingy, except a couple of times by accident)
 
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Skyler said:
sjonee said:
We have ZERO ways of knowing if our, say Tuesday happens to be a +7 multiple of the 3rd Day of Creation. In fact, its demonstrable from Scripture that it has only a 1/7 chance of being so. That is, God himself has prevented us from knowing that datum.
Click to expand...

Then we have no idea which day is Sunday. I don't believe God left mankind so ignorant. Throughout Scripture from Adam till Christ's 1st coming, God's people knew when to observe the Sabbath. This knowledge was given to Adam who handed it down to his son and so forth. Ex 16 indicates that the Israelites knew when the Sabbath was for they gathered twice the amount of food on Fri for Sat without Moses telling them to do so. And they did this twice gathering after they kept their leftovers in an earlier verse which rotted and stank and were then verbally thrashed by Moses.
Click to expand...

I do. Yesterday was Sunday. :p

Also, sjonee, I don't know if you looked up the passage you referred to or not so I'll transcribe it:

Exodus 16:23(NIV) said:
He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
Click to expand...

So yeah, the Israelites knew all right. But not because it had been passed down to them by their fathers. God dictated it to them directly--well, directly through Moses, anyway.

With that said, I think that God's pattern of "one day out of seven" is what's important, not which one day out of seven. The only thing is, I don't know of any churches that hold services on Monday, so you might be stuck with either Saturday or Sunday. ;)

Finally, not all countries begin their week on a Sunday. United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, most of Europe, parts of Asia, and some others begin on Monday.

That being the case, the last day of the week is a Sunday, so everyone is happy. ;)
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Jonathan,
your answer to me leads me to believe that you didn't read my article to which I gave a link. That's ok, because I'm going to take Jessica's advice and step away from this post. If you feel led to PM concerning your points, I certainly welcome them. I like this board too much to get into a debate which will not end well...I feel.
 
sjonee said:
Skyler said:
*snip*
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Jonathan,
your answer to me leads me to believe that you didn't read my article to which I gave a link. That's ok, because I'm going to take Jessica's advice and step away from this post. If you feel led to PM concerning your points, I certainly welcome them. I like this board too much to get into a debate which will not end well...I feel.
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No, admittedly I missed your link. After a bit of digging, though, I found it.

You're right, it does address some of my points already. However if you notice, even the command to gather double on the sixth day was commanded by God earlier in the chapter(verse 5)--it wasn't something the people came up with.

Halfway through, I read "However, let’s continue with Jonathan’s line of thinking for the sake of showing where errors might exist" and thought you were talking about me for one weird moment. :D

You bring out some interesting points. I'm not immediately certain how to respond to them. I'll let you know if I come up with any new insights. ;)
 
I know as a person who used to suppourt New Covenant Theology that the reason I did not suppourt The Sabbath I felt it was just a type of belief in Christ.
 
Parsifal23 said:
I know as a person who used to suppourt New Covenant Theology that the reason I did not suppourt The Sabbath I felt it was just a type of belief in Christ.
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Oh no...you found this thread and dug it back up:eek:

Just kidding! I have no thanks left, but I know people who believe that.
 
he beholds said:
Parsifal23 said:
I know as a person who used to suppourt New Covenant Theology that the reason I did not suppourt The Sabbath I felt it was just a type of belief in Christ.
Click to expand...

Oh no...you found this thread and dug it back up:eek:

Just kidding! I have no thanks left, but I know people who believe that.
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:confused: pretty much my entire church supports NCT or some varent of there sabbath teaching I haven't studied the issue enough to comedown firmly pneside or the other the other. I just think it's an abuse of typology to make the sabbath a type of belief in Christ.
 
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