Sabbath Question

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Zenas

Snow Miser
My friend Dusty asked why Christians celebrate Sabbath on Sundays, the 1st day of the week. I am familiar with the argument in a broad sense, but not enough to give a proper answer. Anyone have a paper or source written on the subject?

SDG
 
Some very nice information there. Thanks.

I've neglected looking into the subject and this prompted me to do so. Thanks. If anyone has anything else as well it's appreciated.
 
I don't argue this one anymore but I will say that I have never been convinced by the arguments for a 1st (or 8th) day Sabbath. I did spend several years in the Seventh Day Baptist Church and I discovered the Sabbath there.

Every time I have brought it up I have received an even LONGER treatment of the topic of how the Sabbath was moved to the first day. From my point of view I have seen the experience like this:

The plain teaching of scripture is that we are to set apart the seventh day as a sabbath. This is a creation ordinance and only Jesus or the apostles can change such a straight forward teaching of scripture. In the decalogue we are reminded to keep the seventh day holy.

There is no explicit teaching from scripture to change the Sabbath to the Lord's Day.

There is much confusion between the terms 'the Lord's Day' and 'the Day of the Lord' in commentaries.

Every now and then someone sends me an even LONGER implicit argument by a formidable theologian, that is somehow supposed to convince me that the explicit teaching of scripture falls under the many words of the theologian. Sorry, I'm just not convinced. Please don't send me an even longer argument.

In practice, because I attend a Sunday keeping church, I guess I'm a one in seven Sabbath keeper. I can defend the stand of each conviction and help those who struggle to understand and hopefully become fully convinced in their own minds.

Me, I am not fully convinced.
 
The plain teaching of scripture is that we are to set apart the seventh day as a sabbath. This is a creation ordinance and only Jesus or the apostles can change such a straight forward teaching of scripture. In the decalogue we are reminded to keep the seventh day holy.

I may get burned at the stake for this thought, but is there any possibility "the seventh day" is allowed to be interpreted by culture? Does it really matter if your seventh day is a Saturday, Sunday, or Wednesday? Not to act as though it is unimportant, but why do we celebrate the Sabbath on a day just because of events happening on that day(Resurrection, ect...)?
 
BTW Andrew, I am grooving on your new avatar. It's so nice to see your smiling face again.

Sorry for hijacking the thread. Oh and I'm sorry for Josh hijacking the thread too. And Andrew.
 
Mat 28:1
Greek - Opse de sabbaton ote epiphoskouse eis mian sabbaton.

English - In the end of sabbaths, as it began to dawn toward the first of sabbaths

The old order of Sabbath ends, and the new order begins.

Heb 4:10 - For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

So we see that just as God rested from His work of creation in Genesis and established the Sabbath, so when Jesus rested from His work of recreation the new order of Sabbath begins.
 
The plain teaching of scripture is that we are to set apart the seventh day as a sabbath. This is a creation ordinance and only Jesus or the apostles can change such a straight forward teaching of scripture. In the decalogue we are reminded to keep the seventh day holy.

I may get burned at the stake for this thought, but is there any possibility "the seventh day" is allowed to be interpreted by culture? Does it really matter if your seventh day is a Saturday, Sunday, or Wednesday? Not to act as though it is unimportant, but why do we celebrate the Sabbath on a day just because of events happening on that day(Resurrection, ect...)?


(I realise I posted this twice. I think it got missed...)
 
There are several different views on the sabbath. Among them are:

Seventh Day Sabbath

First (or Eighth) Day Sabbath

Jesus is our Sabbath

One in seven day's is the sabbath

Everyday belongs to the Lord

The challenge is to form the best biblical argument in support of one of these and honor God in and by your convictions.
 
Ahh, see there. I was afraid someone would link to that thread eventually Pastor Kok. I figured I'd better keep it up front that I'm a closet Seventh Day sabbatarian in case those old threads got resurrected.

It's a great paper Pastor.
 
It has been many years since I read it, and my set of Bunyan's works are not handy at the moment, but if memory serves, I believe that John Bunyan has an excellent treatise on the Change of the Sabbath to the First Day. (I think it was in the second volume).
 
It has been many years since I read it, and my set of Bunyan's works are not handy at the moment, but if memory serves, I believe that John Bunyan has an excellent treatise on the Change of the Sabbath to the First Day. (I think it was in the second volume).
I found it online somewhere. Gave it to an SDA friend some years back after he told me that his church had been encouraging the members to read Pilgrim's Progress. He wasn't convinced.
 
There are several different views on the sabbath. Among them are:

They're all true. The key is to understand how they are all true, and work out what practice is consistent with the whole truth.

"Seventh Day Sabbath" -- from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ to commemorate God's ownership of creation and care for man.

"First (or Eighth) Day Sabbath" -- symbolically represented in the ceremonial laws of Israel which looked forward to fulfilment in Christ, who is the firstborn of the dead and the firstfruits of those who are risen. This is fulfilled in His resurrection, which declares Him Lord of the Sabbath. Hence in the New Testament we observe the resurrection Sabbath to commemorate Christ's mediatorial Headship of creation and care for His church.

"Jesus is our Sabbath" -- So that to believe Him is to enter into rest. Meanwhile we still groan inwardly as we await the redemption of our bodies, and hence continue to keep the resurrection Sabbath, the first day of the week, as a token of that resurrection rest which God's people shall enjoy both in body and soul in His very presence for ever.

"One in seven days is the sabbath" -- Which is the moral precept requiring the keeping holy to God such set times as He hath appointed in His Word, expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to Himself.

"Everyday belongs to the Lord." -- Which is only true on the basis of the principle of firstfruits, that the first is offered to the Lord in token that all of it belongs to Him. Hence we set apart the first day of the week in token that every day is His, and in thankful acknowledgment that He has granted us six days of the week for our own employments. But if every day belonged to the Lord in the sense that our whole time should be spent in giving Him the prescribed worship due to His Name, this would leave us without any time for our own employments and we would then be of no use in testifying to the world Whose we are and Whom we serve.

So, accepting all of these important principles as clearly taught in the Word of God, we see that the whole truth is well represented by the traditional teaching that the first day of the week is the Christian Sabbath, and is to be devoted to the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.
 
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