Should Christians Observe the Sabbath?

²⁷ Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” – Mark 2:27 – 28

Should Christians Observe the Sabbath?  This question comes up periodically and more recently in my circle of influence.  Before writing this, I checked the opinion of a few of the more popular ministries that I follow, and as suspected, they have strong opinions for and against.  The American Evangelical crowd was a hard “no” as they largely reject anything that sounds “religious”.  Those of the “Great Traditions” where a hard “yes” citing the practices of historic Christianity with an emphasis on Spiritual Formation (Romans 8:29).  That said, I think they all made good points!  How we answer the question requires a firm understanding of salvation, sanctification and spiritual formation.  That is to say that we need to understand the Biblical Narrative that God has revealed to us (Biblical Theology); we need to understand the culmination of all things in regards to God’s redemptive history (Eschatology), and we also need to understand the gift of salvation by grace through faith (Soteriology).  The synthesis of these things makes the answer to the question very simple, so this writing is seeking to provide a summary view that can act as a roadmap for anyone who desires to understand this topic to enrich their faith, or may in fact be seeking saving faith.  The short answer to this question is both Yes and No!

³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; ⁴⁰ and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. ⁴¹ I do not receive glory from men; ⁴² but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. – John 5:39-42

No because Christian, those who follow Jesus as the sole source of salvation are saved by grace, not by keeping the law (See Galatians 2:21).  With the advent of Grace, the Mosaic Covenant no longer applies for any person as long as they put their faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus!  We cannot add to our salvation as we can also not lose our salvation!  That said, we also must understand that the Bible presents saving Grace to us in three Greek tenses which tells us that we are saved, we are being saved and we will be saved!!  In other words, God has saved us from eternity, but He is working in us and through us to be made holy, and ultimately, God will save us at the end of time, though our experience living in time can sometimes be a struggle!  So, in regards to keeping the Sabbath, we are not required to keep it, but we are invited to keep it as a practice of our hope, knowing that Sabbath keeping is a shadow of things to come, not as obligation, but as of the great promise of eternal rest; therefore we are NOT to judge anyone who does or does not keep the Sabbath (Colossians 2:15-17).  

Sabbath as Invitation, not Obligation!

Yes!  Some Christian may seek to observe the Sabbath, and that can be good provided the following are clearly understood and abided by: 1) Observing the Sabbath in No Way contributes to salvation; 2) Observing the Sabbath is practiced as a discipline to grow faith and cultivate a richer relationship with God; 3) Observing the Sabbath is done from a conscious conviction, not out of obligation.  Along with this conviction, there is No mandate for the Christian to observe Sabbath from dusk Friday to dusk on Saturday.  Paul addresses this in the book of Romans and states that one person may esteem one day better than another, while another person may accept all days as equal, but which ever you choose, a person should do it with a clear understanding in their mind (Romans 14:5).

With these two understandings, it is quite important to not overlook the salvation question in regards to the Sabbath. If observing the Sabbath brings you deeper into a relationship with Jesus Christ and is a sanctifying process, then do not neglect that conviction, but if there is an inclination in your heart that God requires one to keep the Sabbath or that you can make yourself more acceptable to God by observing the Sabbath, then you are forsaking salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).  The Apostle Paul, the most zealous and esteemed of the Jews (Philippians 3:4-6), who abandoned Judaism for the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:7) warns us not to follow a different gospel (Galatians 1:8-9) by voluntarily entering into the bondage of the law, but rather stay the course of our faith in Jesus Christ because the Law cannot save anyone (Galatians 2:15-17).  In short, faith in the Lord Jesus equates to eternal salvation in the presence of God and faith in the law or any other religions equates to eternal damnation in Hell apart from God! (John 14:6; Titus 2:5).

¹⁰ For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10 

The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath

At the Transfiguration in Matthew 17, we see that Jesus took Peter, James and John to a high mountain on the Sabbath (Matthew 17:1).  The scripture says that Jesus’ face was bright like the sun (Matthew 17:2), a picture similar to the bright shining face of Moses in Exodus 34 after coming down from Mount Sinai after having time with God.  Then they would see Moses and Elijah appear, Moses representing the Prophetic message of the Law and Elijah representing the Prophetic message of the Escaton or End Times (Eschatology).  Then God the Father expresses His everlasting love for the Son and gives the directive that we are to listen to Jesus (Matthew 17:5).  Now we have a picture of Jesus being given all authority in heaven and earth as having fulfilled the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17).   When Jesus identified Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath, He was pointing to Himself as the Lord of Creation in Genesis 2 (See also Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-13; John 1:1-3; John 8:58), the One who gave us the Sabbath to begin with, and the One who gave it to us as a gift (Mark 2:27), an invitation to come to God and find rest (Matthew 11:28-30).

Prayer: Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.  Send us now into the world in peace and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart, through Christ our Lord. Amen!