Why I choose to keep the sabbath as an average evangelical Christian

The vast majority of the western Christian world does not keep the sabbath. Moreover, the day of worship has essentially been moved from the last day of the week to the first day of the week and has next to nothing to do with the sun setting. I am not going to condemn any Christian for doing this just as I wouldn’t want to be condemned for the things I do. But I do believe it’s Biblical.

I am not a 7th Day Adventist. I am not part of the “Hebrew Roots” movement. I am an average Christ-loving, Bible-believing Christian. But I am a big fan of exegesis over eisegesis and there is very little compelling evidence that observance of the sabbath was either removed from the 10 Commandments nor moved to Sunday. There are plenty of out-of-context verses sniped for the sake of confirmation bias, but the plain reading of the full text indicates the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. It indicates many portions of Old Testament law have been changed or can no longer apply, but nothing in the Bible says any of the 10 Commandments have been changed.

Therein lies the biggest reason I choose to keep the sabbath as a Christian. We may be able to debate the meaning of Colossians 2 or subtle hints in other portions of the New Testament that downplay the sabbath, but at no point does it say there are now only 9 Commandments, nor does it say the 4th Commandment has been adjusted because of the death and resurrection of Christ. The changing of the actual Law of God, the 10 Commandments laid out for all men for all time, is not explicitly backed by scripture. To say so is like saying God made these 10 laws to be unchanging for all time and was extremely unambiguous about this fact, but there are subtle hints in cherry-picked verses that seem to indicate maybe Paul changed it.

To me, if God wanted one of his Commandments abolished, he wouldn’t have left little hints of that possibility based on the flawed interpretations of man. And those who say Jesus spoke out about the sabbath are not reading their Bible properly. Jesus often spoke at the legalistic way the Pharisees chose to fulfill the Commandment to rest on the 7th day, but He did not at any point tell anyone not to keep sabbath.

Now is not the time for an exhaustive explanation of why the 3rd century church chose to change the sabbath based on the machinations of leaders needing political expediency at the time. I’ll do that when it’s not sabbath sometime in the future. But I do recommend asking the logical questions that come to mind when thinking on this and doing the research if you don’t want to wait for me to cover it.

I am not a good sabbath keeper. I am drawn in to the world far too easily. Even writing this article on the sabbath sets a poor example. But it was on my mind and I felt it necessary to not wait until sunset.

I also believe there are many who take keeping the sabbath in the wrong direction. It has been used as a basis for many false teachings in some churches, teachings I would never want to spread any further than they already have. If you choose to explore the roots of the change of sabbath, do so from the Bible itself and with teachers you trust. Do not get sidetracked into other teachings simply because some have commandeered the sabbath as a rallying cry to highlight their other beliefs.

Keeping the 10 Commandments wholly and properly has always been a challenge for man. Thankfully, our salvation does not rest on anything we do but on the blood of Christ and the love of God. Amen.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.