Sabbath... do you observe this as a Christian?

Question

I am on a quest to broaden my understanding as a Christian why certain views and practices are considered right. I am a person that questions to deepen my faith and to grasp a better understanding of the Bible.

I am not Jewish, but have read several scriptures that show that Jesus even observed the Sabbath and have found that quite a few demonimations that are Christian observe Sabbath. Do you observe the Sabbath and if so what is your demonination? Also, is it sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday?

Check out the link to see some of what I have read... it is interesting, but long...

http://www.thercg.org/books/tshtbl.html

Here is a quote for everyone...

While it also makes a statement about how Sabbath obedience was exchanged for Sunday observance, this quote demonstrates the importance of the preservation of Sunday observance for Catholics throughout the centuries. This is only one of many similar quotes:

“Is Saturday the seventh day according to the Bible and the Ten Commandments? I answer yes. Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church [Roman Catholic] change the seventh day—Saturday—for Sunday, the first day? I answer yes. Did Christ change the day? I answer no!…Faithfully yours, J. Cardinal Gibbons.”

Many of you have mentioned that Jesus did away with the law when he came and died... but the scripture says that Jesus told the scribes and pharaisees (sp?) that he came to fulfill the law, not abolish it.

Do we honor the 10 commandments or obey the 10 commandments?

Answer 1

kudos to you on reading your Bible and searching for true answers.. Nowhere does it say that God's perfect instruction, Torah, was for the Jew only. Yes, I celebrate Sabbath which is traditionally from sundown Friday evening to sundown Saturday. Some people celebrate it by the new moon but I think that 7th day sabbath is sufficient- though our days are named differently , we still follow the same basic 7 day week.

We are not seperate from the Jew but grafted into the vine we are adopted as heirs of Christ- if we are adopted into the family then we need to behave like adopted children and not expect to come in with our own agenda, pagan practices, and excuses.
Jesus did not come to abolish or remove the law- he came to fulfill or make it perfect- He showed us how to keep God's perfect instruction without all of the pharisee's additives and oral traditions. Nowhere does it say we are to neglect celerating the 7 feasts of the Lord in favor of the pagan feats slapped with christian names because we are not Jewish. I am learnign to celebrate all that Christ celebrated - not because of a religion but because they were given to the people as a picture of Yeshua- they give us a fuller understanding of who He is so that we may recognize Him. The Sabbath, the Torah and the feasts were not given to us for God, but for us, so that we may know and understand and live under the blessing and with abundant life

an extra note regarding ellieannah's answer: Jesus did not break the Sabbath- he always kept the Sabbath but he showed the true spirit of keeping the sabbath. There are some Jews today who refuse to turn a light on or drive or walk so many miles or whatever in an effort not to break the sabbath- God did not institue these rules for keeping sabbath yet the priests were condemning others for breaking these laws that were man made and not God made - Jesus showed what it meant to keep sabbath in your heart. Someone can go around all day observing all the man made Sabbath 'rules' and not once think on the Lord or exalt him in their thoughts and actions, another can go around and do what LOOKS to the world like work, feeding the hungry, pulling cattle out of a ditch, etc but be worshipping and resting in their spirit- who is the true keeper of Sabbath there? Jesus NEVER broke a commandment or walk outside of God's perfect Torah and He ALWAYS kept the Sabbath- just not in the way the rabbinical Jews decided that it should be kept.

Answer 2

This may not fully answer your question, but I want to post it to give some insight on the matter. This comes from "Examining the Scriptures Daily 2005" published by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

Thursday, June 15-"One man judges one day as above another; another man judges one day as all others."-Romans 14:5

Under the Mosaic Law, no work was to be done on the Sabbath. Even travel was severely restricted on that day. (Exodus 20:8-10; Matthew 24:20; Acts 1:12) When the Law was set aside, however, those prohibitions became obsolete. Still, some Jewish Christians may have felt uneasy about performing any kind of work or about traveling a long distance on a day they had previously viewed as sacred. Even after becoming Christians, they may have set the seventh day aside exclusively for spiritual purposes, even though from God's standpoint the Sabbath was no longer in force. Were they wrong to do so? No, provided that they did not insist that the Sabbath observance was required by God. Hence, out of consideration for the conscience of his Christian brothers, the apostle Paul wrote: "Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind."-Romans 14:5b. Watchtower 9/1/04 page 7.

Answer 3

Yes I do!

I am a Seventh Day Adventist.

Yes it is sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday because the Biblical view of a day in Genesis 1 is that the evening and morning were the first day and also in Isaiah it specifies when the Sabbath starts and end. And Jesus was a jew and he followed the Sabbath as the Jews today follow it back then.

Answer 4

Yes, I am a Roman Catholic and I believe it. I am even wondering why many Christians do not believe it and do not practice. It is this unbelief of the majority of our fellow Christians that makes the observance of the Sabbath difficult. The present situation looks like the situation of the slaves in Egypt. It is difficult for me to follow it religiously because even my Christian boss makes me work on the Sabbath. Yes, it is sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. I have tried researching in the encyclopedia about Sunday, Rest Day, Sabbath I found what you have found out. That the rest day was transferred to Sunday from Saturday.

Answer 5

Just as a thought:) I have questioned my faith according to human doctrine and have found Humans have failed!!!
I do believe in God/Rest and the observation IT IS GOOD TO REST:) I do OBserve Sabbath as My God instructs ME:)...it might be tomorrow or the next or the NEXT!!! go figure:) as long as WE LOVE OUR Fellow Human as God has loved US:) I do believe Jesus (a) Christ went about doing HIS FATHER'S WILL EverDAY:)---even if it included "working" on "THE" sabbath...

The Gregorian calendar, or New Style calendar, was slowly adopted throughout Europe. It is used today throughout most of the Western world and in parts of Asia. When the Gregorian calendar was adopted in Britain in 1752, another correction of an 11-day discrepancy was made; the day after September 2, 1752, became September 14. The British also adopted January 1 as the day when a new year begins. The Soviet Union adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1918, and Greece adopted it in 1923 for civil purposes, but many countries affiliated with the Greek church retain the Julian, or Old Style, calendar for the celebration of church feasts.
"Calendar," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2006
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
© 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Answer 6

Yes, I have not worked on the Sabbath from more than 10 yrs now, and have not bought anything on the Sabbath for almost that long.

I observe the midnight to midnight Sunday Sabbath.
I do not think people are wrong to observe the sundown to sundown Friday/Saturday Sabbath.

Answer 7

Unfortunately I am not efficient with my time so I do things such as yard work and shopping on Saturday or Sunday. God was able to rest because he finished the work he set out to do in 6 days. Weekends are usually used for cleaning the house and grocery shopping.

Our pastors work on Sundays so their Sabbath is Monday and they don't go into work that day. Some people observe the Sabbath on a Saturday, some on a Sunday. One of my friends did not study on Sunday because he wanted to observe the Sabbath. He also did not eat out or go shopping on a Sunday.

The church I go to is nondenominational.

Answer 8

Actually the one law Jesus was continually breaking was the Sabbath. He angered the scribes and pharisees on this one numerous times.
No I am not Sabbath observing. I Observe the first day of the week as it is the day Jesus rose from the dead. This is what the first Christians did in Acts.
However, Christianity is a sect of Judaism. So if you would like to observe, then go to it. I would caution you however to never get a spirit of pride thinking you are better than Christians who do not keep it. Remember Jesus didn't keep it.

Answer 9

The fourth commandment is the most misunderstood commandment of all. It has very little to do with "a day of worship". The Temple as well as the synagogues were open every single day. The commandment deals with setting aside the seventh day as a day of rest, but it isn't even about the individual taking a day off. It is about giving everyone else a day off. NOBODY is to do any "work" on that day...not your kids, not your servants, not the stranger who lives among you, not even your animals.
A great many "Christians" make a big deal out of going to church on Saturday rather than on Sunday, and there is nothing wrong with that at all...UNLESS, of course, they happen to stop for gas on the way to or from church, or to buy a drink, or if they take the kids out after church for lunch...then they have broken the very commandment they are making such a show of observing. They are paying someone to WORK for them. Same if they ride a horse or play frisbee with the dog, ask their kid to clean his room or pick up the living room, have a maid who cleans the kitchen or cooks dinner, or hires the guy down the street to mow his yard...there are a thousand ways to break this commandment.
Me, I rest on Saturday. I stay at home and watch T.V. with my feet up, and me and hubby eat frozen food from the microwave. On Sunday, I study, pray, sing, learn, and fellowship with other believers. I also do that on Wednesday evenings.
As for me and my house, we worship God on any day that ends in "y".

Answer 10

Ecclesiastes 12:13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

John 14:15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:21
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.

John 15:10
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

1 John 2:4
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.


It's pretty clear to me that the 4th commandment IS PART OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS!!! If it says to remember the sabbath day and keep it holy - then I shall do that! For the bible clearly tells me to obey the commandments if I love God. It doesn't say obey few - it says obey all the commandments!

A true Christian follows all God's commandments. A "professed" Christian follows some of God's commandments.

For the people that claim yourselves Christians and keep not the Sabbath day - well.....1 John 2:4 calls you a liar.

And Conundrum is right! You must look at history and the origin of the observance of Sunday before you observe Sunday as the Sabbath Day!!!!