Sabbath Keeping
Part IV - Is It For Today?
1. A valid question about the longevity of sabbath keeping should be asked. If, as I have written in "Sabbath Keeping, Part III - Who It Was Given To", that sabbath keeping can be taken away, then how does that reconcile with the following statements: in Exodus 31:13 it says, the sabbath should be kept "throughout your generations"; in Exodus 31:16 it says the sabbath should be kept "throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant"; in Leviticus 16:31 it says, the sabbath would be "a statute for ever"; and in Leviticus 24:8 it says, the sabbath would be an "an everlasting covenant"? Exodus 31:13 KJV, "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am [Yahowah] that doth sanctify you." Exodus 31:16 KJV, "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant." Leviticus 16:31 KJV, "It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever." Leviticus 24:8 KJV, "Every sabbath he shall set it in order before [Yahowah] continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant." What does it mean to say throughout your/their generations, and perpetual, and forever, and an everlasting covenant? It means exactly what it says - forever, or continuously, or everlasting, in other words, for eternity. So, why do I contend with those who insist that sabbath keeping is a perpetual requirement?
2. As mentioned in Part III, sabbath keeping was given to the Israelites and not to men everywhere. The sabbath was never given to Christians in the New Testament. I can find a lot of Scriptures in the New Testament that give commands to Christians regarding their behavior and requirements expected of them, and many of these commands are identical to those given in the Torah, or before the Torah was ever given. But, if you can find a single New Testament Scripture that requires Christians to keep the sabbath, please share it with us. We need to know!
3. Some Messianic Jewish organizations contend that New Testament Christians have now become Jews by conversion. Look at Deuteronomy 4:34 KJV, "Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that [Yahowah] your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?" Israelites come from Jacob and his twelve sons, therefore a Christian is not an Israelite, or Jewish. Romans 9:6-8 KJV, "6 For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Galatians 4:28 KJV, "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." In other words, Christians are reckoned through Isaac, not his son Israel. Once again, if you can find a Scripture(s) that states that Christians have become Jewish, please share it with us. We need to know!
4. So what has become of sabbath keeping? In paragraph one above it is pointed out that the Scriptures teach that the sabbath is to be kept by the Israelites, Jews, forever. Yahoshua has done just that, He has kept not only the sabbath, but the whole Torah, forever; so that the Jews, nor anyone else, ever has to keep it again. Matthew 5:17 KJV, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." And fulfill He did. Christ Yahoshua kept the requirements, not only of the Torah, not only of the prophets, but also all of God's laws for men. If you think not, then what about Christ's sacrifice upon the Roman execution stake at Calvary at the hands of the Jewish leaders of that day and at the hands of Pontius Pilate? Christ provided for the payment of our sins once for all for all time. Christians have no problem in believing this, so why is it so difficult to believe that He has kept the whole law for all time? Romans 6:23 KJV, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through [Yahoshua the] Christ our Lord." Do Christians have to die for their sins, or did Christ pay for those sins in our stead? John 3:16 KJV, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Understand this, we no longer need to sacrifice lambs, or bulls, or red heifers, Christ was our sacrificial lamb, once for all for all time. And He could do this because He was God and because He was the only one who could keep the Torah for all time. It is done, it is finished, the veil has been rent from top to bottom and Christians have access to the holy of holies. Matthew 27:51 KJV, "And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;”. Christ said it on the stake just before He expired - "it is finished." John 19:30 KJV, "When [Yahoshua] therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."
5. If you are keeping the sabbath because you are Jewish, then stop. Believe on the Lord Yahoshua the Messiah and be set free from the requirements of the law and be free from the penalty of your sins. If you are keeping the sabbath because it is part of the Mosaic Law or the Ten Commandments, then stop. If you are not a Christian, then keeping the law will not save you from your sins to the attainment of eternal life. If you are a Christian, then keeping the law will not save you from your sins to the attainment of eternal life. Romans 3:20 KJV, "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Galatians 5:4 KJV, "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
6. Even the Holy Spirit and the apostles teach against any requirement for men to be keeping the sabbath. During a council or meeting in Jerusalem, in the first century, only limited requirements were put upon Christians as they came to the faith. Acts 15:10-11 KJV, "10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord [Yahoshua the] Christ we shall be saved, even as they." Acts 15:28-29 KJV, "28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well." There are no sabbath keeping requirements here.
7. While doing this study, I became thoroughly convinced that sabbath keeping was not a requirement of the law anymore, nor a requirement for any man to keep ever again. I have been saved by the shed Blood of Christ Yahoshua. Believing this is an act of faith. Faith that has been imparted to me from God the Father by His grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV, "8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast." Colossians 2:16-17 KJV, "16 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.” Galatians 4:9-10 KJV, "9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years." I would pray that those Christians who have stuck with me this far, would now open the Scriptures to Colossians, chapter two. Please read this chapter keeping in mind the whole time that it is describing your freedom from being taken captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy and freedom from sabbath keeping. May Yahowah richly bless you in your love of our Lord Yahoshua the Christ.
8. Now that it has been shown in paragraph four above that Yahoshua has met the requirements of the Torah for all time and in paragraph six above that the Holy Ghost does not require believers to keep the weekly sabbath any more, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that weekly sabbath keeping is not required. God does not require anyone to keep the sabbath any longer. You need to understand that not only are you not saved by the Torah, no one ever was and no one ever could be; but you need to further understand that weekly sabbath keeping is putting oneself under the Torah and therefore becomes a dividing wall between you and the Messiah. It is a sin that leads to the broad path of destruction if you persist and do not repent. If a Christian brother observes a special day because it is part of the Torah or any legal system and thereby hopes to save his soul; or teaches others to observe a weekly sabbath because of the Torah; then rebuke him. Galatians 5:4 KJV, "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." 2 Peter 1:9 KJV, "But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." And Galatians 3:10-14 KJV, "10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the [nations] through [Yahoshua the] Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." For the man who claims that he is already saved by grace and not the Torah, but then goes back to observing the Torah anyway, please reread Galatians 3:12 in this paragraph. It states very plainly that you have gone back under the Law. And reread Galatians 5:4 in this paragraph, it cannot be made more clear - YOU HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE!
9. Once again, Yahoshua said, John 14:15,21 KJV, "15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." Yahoshua the Messiah is not saying for us to obey the Torah - that has already been covered in this treatise - He is saying that you are to obey Him out of love, not out of legal obligation; you are to obey Him because you believe in Him and trust that what He says is best for your life now and for all eternity. John 10:10b KJV, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
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