Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Star Traveler

Saturday is indeed the Biblical Sabbath but not the traditional sabbath for Christians.

Early Christians observed Saturday as the day of rest and the first day of the week as “The Lord’s Day” when they gathered and worshipped. They observed both because the early Christians were predominantly Jewish by birth and still upheld Jewish practices. The first day of the week was the Lord’s Day because Jesus arose on Sunday, first appeared again to the disciples who had gathered on Sunday, and was the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the church in power (Acts 2).

The early church continued to observe Saturday as a day of rest and Sunday as a day of worship for the first few centuries of church history. On March 7, 321, the emperor Constantine issued a decree that made Sunday the day of rest in the Eastern Roman Empire. In Cannon 29, the Roman church in the Council of Laodicea (about A.D. 364) stated that although Christians should respect Saturday, the Lord’s Day (Sunday) should be especially honored and that no work should be done on the day of Christian worship. Pope Gregory (AD 590-604) demanded that all secular activities should cease on Sunday so that the people could devote their time to prayer. The overwhelming majority of Christian churches have observed Sunday as the day of rest and worship since then, both Catholic and Protestant.

Students of the Bible know that God judges the heart. If Christians obey His command to observe a day of rest in faith and obedience, especially honoring the Son who rose to give them new life on that day, I think God will be pleased. Likewise, I think He will be pleased with those who do so in faith and obedience on Saturday. It is the act of faith and the attitude (the heart) that matters. Observing NEITHER reveals one’s faith and attitude (heart) toward God as well. Nonbelievers should not be forced to observe those things that apply only to believers. Believers should not need a secular law to force them to obey God.


15 posted on 06/17/2007 5:04:28 AM PDT by BamaCharm (Valiantly striving to combat the B.S. coming from the leftists)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies ]


To: BamaCharm
The early church continued to observe Saturday as a day of rest and Sunday as a day of worship for the first few centuries of church history. On March 7, 321, the emperor Constantine issued a decree that made Sunday the day of rest in the Eastern Roman Empire.

If you have read the Nicean canons, or the decrees of Laodicea then you must know that a decree to establish the "venerable day of the Sun" as a religious day for "Christians" speaks volumes.

Think about it for a moment - why did Constatine have to forbid "Christians" from keeping the Sabbath (on what is called the day of "Saturn", i.e. Saturday)? The answer should be obvious, but anachronism keeps many from seeing it. The first century believers did not meet on Sunday. The "L-rd's Day" is a phrase that anachronisitically came to mean "Sunday." Learn a little Greek and you will be amazed at the complete and utter lack of Biblical support there is for Constantine's decree that abolished the Sabbath.

Putting aside the commandments of G-d, in order to keep the traditions of men...
17 posted on 06/17/2007 5:19:15 AM PDT by safisoft (Give me Torah!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies ]

To: BamaCharm; safisoft

Saturday is indeed the Biblical Sabbath but not the traditional sabbath for Christians.

Students of the Bible know that God judges the heart. If Christians obey His command to observe a day of rest in faith and obedience, especially honoring the Son who rose to give them new life on that day, I think God will be pleased.

I can just as easily go to church on Saturday, or Sunday, or Wednesday or Thursday, or any day, actually. It doesn't matter to me, although it may matter to some others.

To some, they may want to keep one day, to others, all days are the same. God will respect each according to his convictions on the matter, as the Apostle Paul says.

As to whether the church (those called to salvation through their faith in Jesus Christ, in this present age of Grace) is to keep the Sabbath, I think not, according to the Bible. The Sabbath was meant to be a sign between God and the children of Israel (the Jews).

Even though there is a significance to Sunday, it's not a significance that results from a commandment to adhere to and keep.

Exodus 31:12-17 12 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.' "


Ezekiel 20:10-12 10 "Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, 'which, if a man does, he shall live by them.' 12 Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.


Romans 14:5-6 5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.


Regards,
Star Traveler

20 posted on 06/17/2007 9:17:30 AM PDT by Star Traveler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson