To follow the Law or to not follow the Law…? that is the question… The Sabbath and following the Law of Moses has been an ongoing debate between Christians. It seems like both sides have very convincing evidence of why the other side is wrong and therefore my side is right. There is a widespread agreement in modern Christianity that anything in the Old Testament does not apply to us because now we are under the grace. This to some extent is true, however it is also taken out of context. After being on both sides, I can see where both side have some valid points to protect their understanding. However, I would like to show you that it is actually very clear that God commands us to follow the Law until the end of times. And after all, who do you believe the most, the word of God or the words of men?
If you have seen my other posts, I have been quite clear on why I defend the Law of God and therefore the observance of the Sabbath is important. And before you click off, I would like to say that I am not part of any domination, I am not promoting doctrines of Seventh Day Adventist Church, I am just reading the Bible and seeing it black and white. As I mentioned, I have been on both sides or rather three sides: Sunday church worship, no day worship then back to Sunday church worship to now Sabbath day worship.
Why this topic has been going back and forth between Christians?
Did Jesus do away with the Law when he completed his work on the cross? Let me show you what the Bible says on this topic so that you can understand why I think Sunday is not Biblical.
First, the Law appears in the Old Testament in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Law commands things like not having other gods before God, resting on the Sabbath day, or loving your neighbor as yourself. People of the Old Testament were expected to follow the Law of Moses to be set apart from other pagan nations that worshiped multiple gods and followed a lot of sexually charged rituals. Many people believe that the expectation to follow the Law changed in the New Testament. However, Matthew 5 : 17 – 20 in the New Testament with Jesus words, couldn’t be clearer on this matter:
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 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. 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.”
This is clear to me that Jesus highlight that he did not come to destroy, but to fulfill it and show it how it’s done so that we can follow in his footsteps. The Law of Moses is valid “till the heaven and earth pass away”, so pretty much till the end.
Many people in the body of Christ confuse the word fulfilled with abolish and those are not the same words. Fulfil – means achieve, carry out as required, whereas abolish – means put an end to. Jesus clearly said in the above verse that He “did not come to destroy” the Law, but “to fulfill”, which is to show us how to achieve it. That doesn’t mean that only one person needs to fulfill it to satisfy God, because the Law will be valid “till heaven and earth pass away”.
According to Andy Stanley, “Jesus did not abolish the Law when he fulfilled it. But by fulfilling it, he made it obsolete”, which some understood as completely fulfilled therefore we don’t have to. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus fulfills the Law by teaching and demonstrating how to properly keep it. Jesus highlights that nothing from the Law will pass away until the end of the age and the arrival of the new heavens and new earth. (2 Peter 3:7, 13; Revelation 21:1). It will remain relevant until heaven and earth exists.
In Matthew 5:19 we see that Jesus warns his disciples that whoever relaxes and breaks one of those commandments, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. It is therefore very important that we follow the Law until the second coming of Jesus Christ. However, as I put in my title, many believe that keeping the law is pure legalism.
Where does legalism comes from?
The word legalism appears in the Bible in the book of Colossians, however this refers to the Law that Jews followed in the Old Testament, which consisted of the moral Law, ceremonial Law and civil Law. In the Old Testament Jews followed 613 laws that were carefully followed and observed to set them apart from other nations. One of the mostly repeated examples is circumcision that Jews stood so fiercely by. Paul was trying to explain to the Gentiles that only though faith we receive God’s grace and that we are not justified by the Law. However, we are not talking about God’s Law as being 613 laws but 10 commandments given to Moses.
Jesus, similarly to Paul, criticized Pharisees that were so occupied by the outward cleanliness that they did not pay attention to the inward cleanliness and heart’s posture that is more important to God. Therefore Paul criticized those that were saying that without circumcision no one can be saved. This criticism to unnecessary ceremonial laws was interpreted that Paul advised in the book of Romans that we are free from the Law and that we are under the Law of Liberty. Some also took Paul’s words as contradiction because further we see his statement that the Law is good and holy. This argument goes back and forth in few other verses, which can definitely confuse new Christians. Modern Christianity took Paul’s words as the guidance to the Gentiles that are not under the Law as Jews are and therefore we shouldn’t follow it.
But was Paul referring to the Law of God when speaking about the law?
“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”
This verse many interpreted as in Christ we have also died to our obligation to follow the Law of Moses, as we have been “freed from the law”. In further verses Paul continues that:
“For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 7:6
Many believe that “delivered from the law” means we no longer have to follow the law of Moses, however Paul was referring to the law of death. Living in the spirit and following God’s commandments means we are free from the law of death, because our souls will live with God forever. This concept is more about being free from the flesh which is under the Law and living more in the Spirit. This is a call to the spiritual life where fallowing the Law is not burdensome because you reject your flesh. This does not refer to the law of God, which is still very valid.
“Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” Romans 7:12
“So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” Romans 7:25
Paul talks about two different laws here: the Law of God and the law of sin. Therefore we can be sure that Paul did not reject the Law of God, but the law of sin, which means we are obliged to follow the Law of God and walk in the steps of Jesus.
The scripture in Romans and Galatians was interpreted that only Jews have to follow the Law and Gentiles are under the grace and therefore don’t have to.
In the book of Romans 3 : 20 we read “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
This is to confirm that we will not be justified by the Law, but the Law only helps us to know what is sin and what we need to repent of. Furthermore, in Romans 3 : 28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”
Paul needed to highlight this to make sure people are not living by ticking off from the list with what they have done, but rather to live with love and humility towards other people. Boasting will not get you to heaven, we are all justified by faith and not by works. He then highlights in further passages in verse 31: “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”
It is clear that Paul doesn’t say: forget the Law, it’s not important. Just believe in Jesus and you are good! Nope, he said on the contrary, we establish the law – meaning we set it up on a firm and permanent basis.
I don’t know how more clear it could be, however if you still need convincing, Paul highlights in Romans 7:7 that the Law helped him to understand what is sin.
“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.”
He then highlights in further verses that : “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” This is quite clear that he believes the Law is good and important to follow, however Paul throws a curve ball in chapter 7 : 4 by saying “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”
This verse many interpreted as in Christ we have also died to our obligation to follow the Law of Moses, as we have been “freed from the law”. In further verses Paul continues that “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” Therefore, Paul talks more on being delivered from the Law, which gives an impression that the Law is no longer valid, however this concept is more about being free from the flesh which is under the Law and living more in the Spirit. This is a call to the spiritual life where fallowing the Law is not burdensome because you reject your flesh.
Could it be that Paul’s words were wrongly interpreted?
According to Daniel Bock in “The Gospel According to Moses” , Daniel notices that in the book of Romans and Galatians Paul addresses those people who would pervert the Law and give narrowminded interpretation into a means of salvation, rather than treating it as a response to salvation. On the surface it looks like Paul contradicts the Law of Moses, however Paul was highlighting that obedience to the Law was not a way of gaining salvation, but rather a grateful response to salvation already received. Paul did not oppose the Law, he only opposed the misuse of the Law.
This is why Jesus, when speaking to Pharisees, criticized their narrowminded interpretation to the law by pointing out details like cleaning your hands before eating the food, while forgetting about the cleanness of their hearts. Jesus was highlighting their misinterpretation of the Law and real purpose of the Law. It’s not about how clean you are from the outside and what do you do so others can see, but it’s about purity of your heart, clean intentions and love towards God and the others.
And how do we express the love towards God?
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15
“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” John 15:10
Therefore, keeping the Law is not legalism but love towards God.
Now that we’ve established that keeping the Law is in fact Biblical and our responsibility, how come in modern Christianity we don’t feel the need to observe the Sabbath day? In fact, the 4th commandment is the longest and the most detailed commandment that starts with “Remember….”
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8
It is clear that on the 7th day, which in the calendar is Saturday, God commands us to rest and keep this day holy. Sabbath therefore is not a nick name to any other day, it’s a 7th day in the calendar. With that, we worship God and His work and we show our appreciation to the Creator of His creation. God was very serious about this commandment, which we see in Exodus 31: 14
“You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.”
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.” Deuteronomy 5:12
“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14
Why Modern Christianity interprets this as no need to follow the Sabbath?
There are two arguments that I have heard of why Sunday is Biblical. Christian communities point out the fact that Jesus rose on a Sunday which they refer to as the Lord’s Day and that early Christians met on Sundays for fellowship:
“Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” Acts 20:7
This I would interpret as the disciples wanted to meet with Paul before his depart. There is nothing about gathering to read scripture and worship God.
Another scripture that Christians use as an argument:
“On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” Corinthians 16:2
Again, we can’t tell if those people actually gathered, worshiped, red scripture on the first day or if it was rather ask to “lay something aside” for collection.
Therefore it is clear to me that only two scripture that could be interpreted as Sunday being for worship, contrary to 58 scripture asking to observe the Sabbath…
Again, who do you believe the most, the word of God or the words of men?
“Jesus says: “If you love Me, keep My commandments … He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me … If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” John 14:15-24
Sabbath has been mentioned 172 times in the Bible and 58 times in the New Testament. Sabbath was observed after Jesus died and only after centuries’ after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it was changed by Catholic church, not the Bible. Many Christians believe that we only have to adhere to the New Testament, therefore Jesus was also very clear on the importance of observing the Sabbath and teaching the right way to observe it that pleases God.
“And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27-28
“For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.” Acts 15:21
“When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.” Luke 4:16
“And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.” Luke 6:5
“One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue,” Luke 13:10
“One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the Law of Moses say?” Luke 10:25-26
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” Matthew 5:17
“I am the Lord, and I do not change.“ Hebrews 13 : 8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”. Malachi 3:6
“Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.” Romans 3:31
As you can see, there is quite a lot of evidence to show that the Sabbath was important and there is nowhere in the Bible that confirms this has been changed by God. Moreover, the book of Isaiah talks about the Day of the Lord, which is the day of the second coming of Jesus. The book of Isaiah highlights what we have to do to prepare ourselves for that day, which hasn’t come yet:
“Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong.” Isaiah 56:2
“For this is what the Lord says: I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me.” Isaiah 56:4
“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!” Isaiah 58:13-14
In the new earth and new heavens, “All humanity will come to worship me from week to week and from Sabbath to another.” Isaiah 66 : 23. Therefore the Sabbath is going to be an ongoing celebration even after the second coming of Jesus.
How did we go from Sabbath worship to Sunday worship?
Christians argue that Paul opposed Jews who insisted on Jewish customs like Sabbath keeping and wrote the book of Galatians against such practices. In the book of Acts we see a lot of hostility and division between Jews and early Christians. Therefore the custom of Sunday worship was welcomed by Christians who desired to differentiate themselves from Jews, whom they hated because of the Jews’ rejection of the Savior.
According to Westminster Confession, “From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, the Sabbath was the last day of the week; and from the resurrection of Christ, this was changed into the first day of the week.” Herold Weiss highlights that ” The New Testament shows that the Sabbath occupied a prominent position in the early Christian communities.”
The Roman emperor Constantine, who was a former sun god worshiper, professed conversion to Christianity, though his subsequent actions suggesting that the “conversion” was more of a political move than a genuine heart change. Constantine named himself Bishop of the Catholic Church and enacted the first civil law regarding Sunday observance in A.D. 321.
The change occurred on the 7th of March, 321 AD, where the Emperor of Rome Constantine decreed that Sunday would be a day of rest. Christians wanted to distance themselves from Jews as Jews did not accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The Council of Laodicea’s Canon 29 confirms: “Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s Day (Sunday), and if they can, resting then as Christians.”
In A.D. 325, Pope Sylvester officially named Sunday “the Lord’s Day,” and in A.D. 338, Eusebius, the court bishop of Constantine, wrote, “All things whatsoever that it was the duty to do on the Sabbath (the seventh day of the week) we (Constantine, Eusebius, and other bishops) have transferred to the Lord’s Day (the first day of the week) as more appropriately belonging to it.” Constantine was the first so-called “Christian” Roman emperor. Though he did stop much of the persecution of Christians as a whole, however it seems he did more to introduce sun worship into Christianity than any before him.
Kenneth A. Strand in his book states that: “This process brought about a widespread conflict of Sunday with the 7th day Sabbath, and eventually in medieval times this Sunday “Sabbath” came to displace the original Saturday Sabbath throughout the Europe.” The first day of the week began to be recognized as both a religious and civil holiday. By the end of the second century, Christians considered it sinful to work on Sunday.
Historian Paul Johnson details some of this influence: “Constantine was almost certainly a Mithraic, and his triumphal arch, built after his ‘conversion’, testifies to the Sun-god, or ‘unconquered sun’. … Constantine never abandoned sun god worship and kept the sun on his coins. He made Sunday into a day of rest, closing the lawcourts and forbidding all work except agricultural labour” (A History of Christianity, 1976, pp. 67-68).
So, a royal decree to rest and worship on a Sunday instead of Saturday was made by the Roman emperor, a sun god worshipper. Now Christians around the world were celebrating on the same day the Mithraics worshipped the sun. This is a blatant example of pagan influence in Christian practices. This was not changed by God but only by political edicts and church councils.
Yet again I ask, who do you believe the most, the word of God or the words of men?
The Catholic Virginian said in 1947: “All of us believe many things in regard to religion that we do not find in the Bible. For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath Day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the Church outside the Bible.”
The Catholic Universe Bulletin said in 1942: “The Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.” This actually sounds familiar…
Daniel 7: 25-26 “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law.”
These examples make it clear that the Sabbath was not changed to Sunday by Jesus Christ but rather by those who believed they had the authority to change biblical principles. Since Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” it is hard to understand why a change Christ never authorized was made.”
In my humble opinion, this has been a strategic move done over time and people don’t question it because they prefer to follow traditions of men rather than the word of God. It is inconvenient to now change everything back, do opposite to the world, miss out on many events that happen on a Saturday. Churches and pastors are happily and ignorantly convincing people that Sunday is the new “Sabbath” because in reality, they don’t want to preach to 10 people, but they would rather preach to thousands of people and keeping their religious pride.
God created us to worship him, he commanded us to worship him on a Sabbath which is the 7th day in the calendar and as John 2:24 states: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The truth being the word of God that does not change and walking in spirit is walking in God’s Law. Moreover, worship is also important to God’s adversary – Satan. What Satan did when Jesus was fasting 40 days? He took him on a hill and said “So if you will worship me, all this will be yours.” Where Jesus replied “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Matthew 4:10.
So clearly worship is important! Proper worship, according to the word of God and the truth. And why do we argue with God?
By Dagmara Z.