There are a few mainstream cults (such as the Seventh Day Adventists) that base their very foundations upon the Mosaic law, and of that essentially around the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath, held on the seventh day of the week (Saturday) in line with Judaism and the Old Covenant. Mostly — I am convinced, as far as Gentiles are concerned — for the purpose of opposition against the Sunday-keeping groups, which is virtually the rest of Christendom. Hypocritical dead religion excels in self-righteousness, but that is not inclusive to only sabbath-law-keeping cults. MANY that do keep Sunday as the Lord's day, and not the Sabbath, find themselves in the same predicament, and akin to the "scribes and Pharisees, . . . whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. . . . full of hypocrisy and iniquity . . . hypocrites!" (Matt 23:27-29). In spite of the mammoth amount of evidence that Seventh Day Adventism (SDA) embraces a false and perverted gospel, among tons of other heresies and damnable heresies, I have heard so-called Christians (including an "evangelist" out of Pembina Valley Baptist Church) claim that they have SDA friends that are genuinely saved. No one is genuinely born again that embraces a works salvation (Rom 11:6; Ti 3:3-5; Eph 2:8-9; cf. Gal 1:6-9; 2:4-5).
In dealing with non-SDA's, SDA's almost always (as do many other cults), present their message in a covert manner. They are rarely upfront as to what they really believe or what organization they are representing. They will give out material with no SDA labels on it. They will undertake covert operations to get people sucked into a new church they are launching in the given town. They'll undergo premeditated secrecy in trying to start their "church" in a new area. Are they really that ashamed of their so-called "church"? I would be to, since its not a true church but a bastion of false teachings and teachers. These heretical false teachers have used this same underhanded method of stealing church members and seducing the gullible and untaught for years. The popular series of books, "The Bible Story" published from 1953 to 1957 and authored by Arthur S Maxwell, selling upwards of 2 million copies, books that most professing Christians are familiar with, are in fact authored by a Seventh Day Adventist. But you wouldn't know it through any clear indication found in the books. But a careful reading of the stories will discern that something is amiss and corrupt. Covert, that is how they operate, but its unBiblical and ungodly.
(Some might argue that we are doing the same thing here. Far from it. There is no comparison. We don't hide what we believe or what group we associate with, which is the Independent Baptists, but we have many self-evident reasons why we remain anonymous on the world wide web, to some degree).
Our focus here in this report is specifically on the teaching of keeping the Sabbath, namely around Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) teaching on Sabbath-keeping, which goes as follows:
“God instituted the Sabbath in Eden; and so long as the fact that He is our Creator continues to be a reason why we should worship Him, so long the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial. . . . The keeping of the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the true God.” (Ellen White, The Great Controversy, p. 386)
“...from this it is evident that all Ten Commandments are binding in the Christian dispensation, and that Christ had no thought of changing any of them. One of these commands is the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath...” (Bible Footlights, p. 37)
SDA's purveys the heresy that those who do not keep the Jewish Sabbath do not keep the commandments of God and therefore will not be saved, which is a damnable heresy of works salvation (2 Pet 2:1). SDA made Sabbath-keeping a criterion for a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, which is “another gospel” (2 Cor 11:4), a blatantly perverted gospel of works (Gal 1:6-9). The keeping of the Jewish sabbath holy for the SDA became the focus of Ellen White—not from Scripture mind you, but through a visit to heaven she asserts, where she was allegedly shown the sanctuary and its appointments!
"Jesus raised the cover of the ark, and she beheld the tables of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written. She was amazed as she saw the Fourth Commandment in the very center of the ten precepts, with a soft halo of light encircling it.” (John Norton Loughborough, Rise and Progress of the Seventh-day Adventists, 1892, p. 122).
In one of her most revered works, Ellen White wrote that Sabbath observance would be the "line of distinction" in the "final test" that will separate God's end-time people who "receive the seal of God" and are saved, from those who "receive the mark of the beast" (The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, p. 605). In the same work, she said:
“The keeping of the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the true God." (p. 386)
And that is where SDA heretics who write us, declare the same idea, puppets of White:
“The Sabbath is the sign between God and His people . . . It means much to be true to God.”
Its all lies. White was a demon-possessed false teacher who was completely out of her place in authority over men. Practically everything she wrote was a lie and heresy, quite possibly even in her use of "the" and "a."
"Sabbath"
The word "sabbath" means rest. It doesn't actually mean seventh day, or first day, but simply rest. Under the Old Covenant, the Jews were obligated to keep the Sabbath (Ex. 31:16; De 5:15), the day of rest and worship, which God instituted on the seventh day of the week, Saturday, corresponding to the day that He rested after He created the world (Gen 2:2-3).
"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he restedon the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had restedfrom all his work which God created and made." (Gen 2:2-3)
The LORD God rested on the “seventh day” of the creation week, prefiguring Israel’s responsibility as a new nation both in the OT, and then again in the Millennium, ultimately in the Lord Jesus Christ when they are converted as a nation (the 1/3 that survives the wrath of the Antichrist). But note that nowhere between God's rest on the seventh day and the giving of the commandment to Israel did God decree the people to keep the seventh day holy. This only began during Israel's sojourn in the wilderness.
That greatest missionary that probably ever lived, the apostle Paul, wrote the following words to his converts who were courting the system of Moses in preference to the grace of God (in the same manner as the Jews under the Old Covenant, sinner salvation or sanctification has never changed):
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Gal. 5:1)
That command stands valid to this very day despite how the law cults pervert its meaning. In fact, and again, the principle already existed under the Old Covenant.
The Arguments and Hypocrisy of Sabbath-Keeping Cults
1. They hypocritically argue that we are to keep the whole of the OT law; that all the law is applicable to us today.
We are to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, which is what is found in the Word of God (Matt 4:4), but not every word in the Word of God applies to every person of every age. It really doesn't take much Biblical understanding to know that. We are commanded to rightly divide the Word of truth, but these religious law-keeping folks do not, nor do they understand. For instance, there are commands given to men and to women, and they are not the same. We do not keep the ceremonial commandments, which are many commands within the Mosaic law. These were all done away with at the crucifixion of Christ. His perfect sacrifice fulfilled every such law. There are things in Scripture that are not applicable to the born again believer under the New Covenant and that includes elements of the law. The following report explains What the Born Again Believers Relationship is to the Law.
The reality of the matter is, the Sabbatarians and their fellows in whatsoever church or sect or religion, do not keep the Sabbath as laid down in the OT. They live in the realm of religious allusion not reality, and hypocritically. The OT laws regulating the Sabbath continually condemn them as being guilty of breaking God's commands regulating this Jewish holy day.
Note just a few of these regulations:
No fires could be built (Ex. 35:3).
No cooking on the Sabbath (Ex. 16:23).
Cannot leave their houses (Ex. 16:29).
The priest must offer two lambs on every Sabbath (Num. 28:9).
Everyone in the land must be compelled to keep it (Ex. 20:10).
It must be kept from sunset to sunset (Lev. 23:32).
All who break this day must be stoned (Ex. 31:14).
"Law keepers" like the SDA observe none of these things. The Sabbatarians build fires (including in their furnace and oven), cook food, go outside their homes and drive their vehicle (often for many miles), no lambs offered by the priest, are few in number that "keep" it, have never been stoned and have never kept it from sunset to sunset. In fact, it would be impossible for them to do so. They would freeze to death in short order without heat in the winter and suffer without warm food (the Jews prepared all their Sabbath food the day before). How does all this fare in the Arctic regions of the earth where for weeks there is no sunset or sunrise, or very little! How many people do the Sabbath "keepers" stone each week end for breaking their day? By now there would be none left, but who would stone the last one?? All this demonstrates the sheer folly of their teaching on this subject, and reveals again that this day was designed for the Jews, fitting only in their land, climate and applicable only for their people, not the entire world.
2. They argue that Jesus kept the Sabbath.
Why did Jesus keep the sabbath? He kept the sabbath for the same reason He kept all the other Mosaic laws.He also observed the Jewish feasts. Jesus did these things because He was a Jew, born under the law, that He might fulfill it and redeem His people from its penalty and bondage (Gal. 4:4-5; Rom. 9:5). In Matt. 5:17-20 Jesus expounded the demands of the law, which is perfection. Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And He did so, perfectly. Jesus was under the law so that repentant believers might not be.
By Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection, the sabbath was fulfilled in Him.
Jesus made it clear that the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath, and that He was Lord of the sabbath.
3. They argue that the Sabbath was to be perpetual, so we must keep it.
Sabbatarians will point out several expressions from the Scripture to prove their case that Sabbath keeping is to be eternal. The key words that clinch the case for them are "throughout your generations” in Ex. 31:13, "perpetual" in Ex. 31:16, and “forever” in Ex. 31:17, all in connection to the sabbath. To them these are the clinchers to affirm their case. Is this so? Maybe for the Jews, but not for born again Gentile believers in the age of the church. They fail to differentiate between the Jews and the Gentiles, a very common problem today, especially among those who hold to that doctrines of devils Replacement Theology. No born again believer is a Jew or a true Jew. The Jew is the good and natural olive tree, while the Gentile believer is of the wild olive branch grafted in (Rom 11). No Gentile should ever forget that, and haughtily "boast against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. . . . For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee." (Rom 11:17-24).
But the SDA argument crumbles like a sandcastle. For this would demand that they must equally hold to and keep the perpetuation of all the Jews feasts and celebrations as well. The Jews do that, and they also keep the Sabbath, but NO SDA Sabbatarian does this however. The Sabbath is classified with other Jewish feasts and celebrations in Lev 23:1-44; Num 28:2 & 16; 1 Ch 23:29-31; 2 Ch 2:4 & 8:13. It is not separated from the Hebrew feasts. The Jews do keep these feasts, and they also keep the Sabbath, but NO SDA Sabbatarian does this however. The Sabbatarians are forced to separate the sabbath in order to remain consistent in their inconsistency. Of the Passover we read God's orders, “ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generation; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever” (Ex.12:14). Why overlook this one? We read of the perpetuity of the burnt offerings (Ex. 29:42), of the atonement (Ex. 30:10), of the ritual washing of hands and feet (Ex. 30:21), of the first fruits (Lev. 23:14), of the meat offering (Lev. 6:18), of oil for the lamps (Lev. 24:3) and many more.
They fiercely apply the sabbath to their lives, albeit hypocritically, but close their eyes and turn their heads to the same word being applied to the other Jewish observances. The reason of course is because they pick and choose what they will apply and "obey" and prop up, and what they won't, that old game of fitting what is usable for the narrative, while explaining away that which doesn't fit the narrative. In the beginning of this report I observed that the Sabbatarian SDA group mostly oppose Sunday-keeping merely to be different, in their self-righteous way. I stick to that observation, for "all their works they do for to be seen of men:" (Matt 23:5).
The perpetuity of the Sabbath is only pertinent within the nation of Israel. This explains why the prophets say that Israel will keep the sabbath even after the millennial kingdom of Christ is established on earth (Is. 66:23). It also explains why Jesus Christ mentioned the sabbath in His prophecies of the Tribulation (Matt. 24:20).
SDA's and other law cult adherents point to Is 56:6-7 as proof that Gentiles are commanded to keep the Sabbath. Speaking of the “stranger” or Gentiles, the passage affirms that Gentiles should “keep the Sabbath from polluting it.” If this proves that Gentile Christians under the New Covenant must keep the Jewish Sabbath, then it also proves that they must bring “burnt offerings and sacrifices”to be placed upon the temple altar, according to v. 7. It's all the same context! But this latter commandments no Sabbatarians will obey; they only pick out the Sabbath day instruction and turn a blind eye to the rest. But that is always the hermeneutics of false teachers, who corrupt, wrest, falsely divide, privately interpret, and spiritualize the Scripture. This is their MO because they are absent of the Spirit of Truth who is the Teacher of Truth to all whom He indwells. This order from God had reference strictly to Gentile proselytes who would convert to Judaism, especially during the years prior to the coming of Christ. There is not one plain, direct, or even indirect statement anywhere in the pages of the NT that commands born again Christians to keep the OT Jewish Sabbath in any shape, form, or fashion, something we will cover in further detail under next point. It always has to be inferred from this, guessed from that, or surmised from the other. This is the same kind of hermeneutics used by every false cult on earth since the day's of Christ in the flesh among men. No one can assume or conjecture their way into heaven!
4. They argue that the Pope started Sunday-worship, and all that worship Sunday are of the Antichrist.
This is a very common argument amongst sabbath-keeping cults. SDA's claim that Sunday-keeping came out of paganism through the pope into the church.
"The name, origin, authority, and sacredness of the Sunday institution are altogether and only pagan." (Ellen G. White, Replies to Elder Canright, p. 133).
Ellen White likely invented the heresy that the Pope changed the Sabbath into the Sunday:
"The pope had changed it [the Sabbath] from the seventh day to the first day of the week. . . . The pope had changed the day of rest from the seventh to first day." (Ellen G. White, Early Writings, pp. 26, 55).
You ever hear SDA's claim that Sunday-keeping is the mark of the beast? (Now thats what you would call corrupting and wresting Scripture!). It also came from the demon-possessed Ellen White:
"Here we find the mark of the beast. The very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, on the part of the Catholic church, without any authority from the Bible." (Ellen G. White, The Mark of the Beast, p. 23)
"The change of the Sabbath is the sign or mark of the authority of the Romish church. . . . The keeping of the counterfeit Sabbath is the reception of the mark." (Ellen G. White, Great Controversy, Vol. 4, p. 281)
The idea that the Pope, using the force of the Roman government, changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday at some point after the union of Catholicism with the State, is historically absurd and impossible. There were no Popes in 107 A.D., not until the fourth century with the innovation of the state church Roman Catholicism. The pagan Roman government was not conspiring with Popes that did not exist to set up a Roman Catholic church-state with some sort of compulsory Sunday worship. Such ideas are the products of lies, falsehoods, demonic manifestations, but not history. Born again Christians do not say that the first day of the week is the new Sabbath, but that the Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ, and they also reject the Pope and his many abominations (Roman Catholicism is Apostate). But this is something that the pope did not do. From the 2nd century till today, Bible believing professing Christians have kept Sunday as the Lord's Day, because that is the example of the Apostles and early churches of our Lord.
Though we make no endorsem*nt of the following individuals, their testimonies in the 2nd century are of the very earliest documents of Christian history, written almost immediately after the completion of the NT and reflect the truth that no Pope started Sunday worship:
"Those who had lived in antiquated practices came to newness of hope, no longer keeping the Sabbath but living in accordance with the Lord’s day,on which our life also arose through him and his death . . . At the dawning of the Lord’s day He arose from the dead." (c. 107 A.D., Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 9:1, and Epistle to the Trallians, ch. 9)
"And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read . . . then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine . . . are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given. . . . Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because . . . Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead." (c. 140 A.D., Justin Martyr, Apology I:67)
The medieval Waldenses also kept the first day of the week, Sunday, as the Lord's day:
“They observed no other day of rest or holiday, than Sunday . . . were styled Insabbathi or Insabbathas, that is, Sabbathless, or not observing Sabbaths” (Thieleman J. Van Braght, The Blood Theater: Martyr’s Mirror, p. 277).
On a side note, the Anabaptist/Baptist lineage, which is the stream of the true churches, the pillar and ground of the truth, ascended from the Waldenses:
“[The Baptists] descended from the tolerably pure evangelical Waldenses. . . . They were, therefore, in existence long before the Reformed Church . . . We have seen that the Baptists, who were formerly called Anabaptists . . . were the original Waldenses; and who have long in the history of the Church, received the honor of that origin. On this account the Baptists may be considered the only Christian community which has stood since the Apostles; and as a Christian society which has preserved pure the doctrine of the gospel through all ages.” (A. Ypeij and J.J. Dermout, Gescbiedenis der Netherlandsehe Hervomke Kerk, I, p. 148).
Modern Baptists, like the true churches in early church history and throughout the Dark Ages where Roman Catholicism ruled the world, likewise assemble for worship on the first day of the week, not on Saturday.
5. Their arguments are not based on Scripture but biased to presuppositions, and Scriptural error.
SDA's reject the clear testimony of Scripture for something else. They argue for a works-based gospel that attempts to establish the law for salvation including or especially the keeping of the sabbath. Their arguments are built upon sand dunes and logical fallacies, and require serious wresting and corruption of Scripture, both of which are condemned as an "error of the wicked" (2 Pet 3:16-17; 2 Cor 2:17).
Another fallacious argument, actually even blasphemous, from the SDA's, is there claim that worshipping on Saturday is the seal of God, not the Holy Spirit. Ellen White claimed that damnation would come to those not sealed by God through worshipping on Saturday, and not to those who are not sealed with the Holy Spirit through personal conversion.
“The seal of the living God . . . is the Sabbath.” (Present Truth, Jan 31, 1849)
“Those who desire to have the seal of God . . . must keep the Sabbath." (Ellen White, Selected Messages, vol. 3, p. 423)
“The . . . seal of God is revealed in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. . . . every one who is a child of God will have His seal placed upon him.” (Ellen White, Maranatha!,p. 212)
“The soul who keeps the Sabbath is stamped with the sign of God’s government . . . God will never, never allow any man to pass through the pearly gates of the City of God who does not bear . . . His government mark." (Ellen White, Medical Ministry, p. 123)
The Word of God on the other hand teaches something entirely different. The Holy Spirit is the seal of God, the blessed “earnest” or down payment in the born again believer that guarantees that he or she has received salvation, and will be saved eternally, so that once he is saved, he is always saved. Those who do not have the Holy Spirit in them will be lost (Rom 8:9), but those who are born again are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory:
"In whom [Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Eph 1:12-14)
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30)
"Who [God] hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." (2 Cor 1:22)
The Biblical Proof for Sunday-Keeping and Biblical Arguments Against Saturday-Keeping
Sunday is not the sabbath; it is technically not even a holy day. Bible-believing Christians do not observe the Sabbath by assembling on Sunday. The NT believer, redeemed from the obligations of the Mosaic Law, is free to observe or not to observe holy days as he pleases. (Of course no Christian should forsake the assembly unless they have no choice due to lack of a true church available or illness or some other legitimate reason, but every Christian is free to honour or not to honour days.) While ministering in the Middle East, in an Islamic nation, we observed Friday as our holy day, to keep with the schedule of the country. To do otherwise and keep Sundays would've been very difficult due to it being a work day, and most people in the church working long hours. But we have liberty in the matter. Both Rom 14:1-13 and Col 2:16 are clear that believers are not to be judged in respect to holy days, which would be a false judgment of a self-righteous individual, very likely unconverted. Indeed, the Galatians’ respect of holy days caused the Apostle Paul to fear that they weren't even saved!
“Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. . . . I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you” (Gal 4:10-11, 20)
“Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Rom 14:4-5)
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days” (Col 2:16)
I am happy that western nations keep Sundays, or have traditionally kept Sundays (since the nations are becoming more and more ungodly and further away from the Bible by the minute) as the Lord's day, the day of rest and worship. We believe that there is good cause for it, and also solid Biblical proof as to why keeping the Sabbath on Saturdays is no longer the case, as we will prove below. In so doing we follow the example of the early churches in the Bible (Ac 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2), and true churches historically over the last two millennia, meeting together to worship on the first day of a new week, the day of our Lord’s resurrection as “the firstborn from the dead” (Col 1:18), looking forward to their own resurrection to be forever with Him, and like Him.
1. The Jewish Sabbath was not for the Churches but specifically for Israel.
God's Wordrecognizes that the church and Israel are two different institutions. Not a single one of the 2,500+ references toIsraelin the OT or NT equateIsraelwith thechurch, while the Jewish people are specifically distinguished from the church as an entirely different entity (1 Cor 10:32). The Sabbath was a special sign for the Jewish nation (Ex 31:13,17; Ezk 20:12).
"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. . . . It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." (Ex 31:12-13, 17)
"Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." (Ezk. 20:12)
Ex 31:12-18 tells us that the sabbath was a special sign between God and Israel. If mankind in general had been given the sabbath following creation, it could not have been a sign for Israel. Nowhere do we read the regulation of this day from the time of Creation to giving of the commandment to Israel through Moses at Mt Sinai (Ex 16:23). The fact is that the sabbath belongs to the nation Israel and not to any other people. It is also important to note that the sabbath will be an eternal possession of Israel (Ex. 31:16). This sign will never be annulled or transferred to another people. This explains why the prophets say that Israel will keep the sabbath even after the millennial kingdom of Christ is established on earth (Is. 66:23). It also explains why Jesus Christ mentioned the sabbath in His prophecies of the Tribulation (Matt. 24:20). To this day, the Jews in Israel and all over the world, still keep the sabbath.
The Sabbath started under the Mosaic Law:
"And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning." (Ex. 16:23)
This sign of the Sabbath was first made known to Israel after the nation came out of Egypt (Ex 16:23; Neh 9:13-14;Ezk 20:10-12). There is no biblical proof whatsoever that Abel, Noah, Job, Abraham, or any other godly person kept the Sabbath before the days Moses brought Israel out of Egypt. Indeed, Scripture specifically indicates that the covenant which included the Sabbath was not made with the patriarchs, but only with Israel in Moses’ day (Ex 16:23; De 5:3,12-15).
The children of Israel were commanded to keep the Sabbath:
"Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant." (Ex. 31:16)
“And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore theLORDthy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.”(De 5:15)
It is significant that God’s Ten Commandments are found twice in the Bible, in Exodus (Ex 20:3-17) and in Deuteronomy (De 5:6-21). “Deuteronomy” actually means “the Second Law.” The two accounts are worded nearly identical, with the difference being the reason for obeying the Fourth Commandment, to “keep the sabbath day.” In Exodus, the reason given is because of God's creation: “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day” (Ex 20:11). In “the second law,” i.e. the book of Deuteronomy, the reason given (quoted above) is that God saved Israel out of bondage in Egypt. In other words, when the Israelites observed each Sabbath day in rest and worship, they were acknowledging God as both their Creator and their Redeemer.
Resting on the seventh day was prescribed only for Israel (Ex 31:17; cf. Ps 147:19-20; Mal 4:4).
2. Because of the consequences for not keeping the Sabbath.
If we had to keep it, then all that are not keeping would be killed:
"Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant." (Ex 31:14-16)
Do you know of any professing believer that has been put to death for not keeping the Sabbath and keeping Sundays instead? I don't either. It would be the special Sabbath-keeping Gentiles that would be doing the killing, since they are so adamant that God has told them to keep it. You cannot hold to Sabbath keeping without holding to its Biblical regulations and governance. But of course the sabbath-keeping cults are hypocrites.
3. Because it is never addressed in the NT to be kept as a holy day, nor the example of the churches in the NT.
The fourth commandment, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex 20:8-11), was conspicuously absent from Christ’s teaching and example. Jesus and His disciples were often accused of breaking the sabbath. To His accusers Christ replied, the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath, and that He was Lord of the sabbath.
Since the Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ and done away, it is not surprising that the principles of the other nine commandments are repeated in specific statements to NT born again believers and churches, but the Sabbath is not. Here are the Ten Commandments referenced in the NT:
1st Commandment in 1 Tim 2:5;
2nd Commandment in 1 Cor 10:7;
3rd Commandment in Jam 5:12;
4th Commandment nowhere;
5th Commandment in Eph 6:2;
6th Commandment in 1 Jn 3:15;
7th Commandment in Heb 13:4;
8th Commandment in Eph 4:28;
9th Commandment in Col 3:9;
10th Commandment in Eph 5:3.
In their writings to the churches, the apostles only mentioned the sabbath or the principle of the sabbath, three times:
The sabbath as a symbol of salvation rest in Christ (Heb. 4).
The NT born again believer is not bound to keep the sabbath (Col. 2:9-17).
The NT born again believer has liberty in the matter of holy days (Rom. 14).
In all the instruction God gave the churches in the NT epistles, there is only one mention of the sabbath—Col. 2:16—and that one mention was only to show that it is not binding upon born again believers under the New Covenant. Paul wrote this to the Gentile church at Colosse; he was instructing them about the Jewish heretics that were demanding that they keep the OT Law, including the sabbath. In the NT, nine of the Ten Commandments are supported, but the 4th is not, the very one that SDA is entirely built upon. Those who teach that the sabbath is binding upon Christian are contradicting what the apostles taught.
It also comes as no surprise that there are no examples in the NT anywhere of churches meeting for worship specifically on Saturday. On occasion churches would meet every day of the week (Ac 2:47), but apart from such special events, every single example in the NT for church worship was on the first day of the week (Matt 28:8-10; Mk 16:1-2, 10-11; Lk 24:33-34; Jn 20:19-26; Ac 2; 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2). “The first day of the week” was “when the disciples came together to break bread” in the Lord’s Supper (Ac 20:7) and when the churches in different areas assembled week by week and took up the monetary “collection” (1 Cor 16:1-2; cf. 2 Cor 8-9), because the first day of the week, when Christ rose from the grave (Mk 16:9), is the “Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10).
Resting on the seventh day was prescribed only for Israel. In NOT one place anywhere in Scripture is it prescribed to the Gentiles. The other nine commandments are written in the conscience of every Gentile:
“For when the Gentiles, which have not the law [the law given to Israel alone], do by nature the things contained in the law, these . . . shew the work of the [moral] law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and theirthoughts”(Rom 2:14-15).
But God has not written in anyone’s conscience to keep the sabbath holy. No one has attempted to keep the sabbath holy from among the Gentiles over two thousand years, except a very, very small number of people who have embraced a false works gospel. And they didn't do that because they learned this in Scripture but through the deception of a false teacher.
Throughout the centuries from the time of the apostles, countless testimonies have existed that verify the clear fact that professing believers worshipped on Sunday, the Lord's day, and not on the Jewish Sabbath. The chapter "Why Christians Keep Sunday"of the book published at this websitereveals a number of them. That linked book by the way is very informative on the SDA religion. Its called "Seventh-Day Adventism Renounced" and its written by D. M. Canwright in the year 1889, a prominent minister and writer of 28 years of the SDA religion. You can also download the book here in pdf format.
4. Because of what the Sabbath meant, and the false judging of sabbath-keeping cults.
Because the Sabbath-rest was a type or shadow fulfilled by Jesus Christ (Gal 4:4-10), the NT indicates that churches were no longer keeping it, and they were not to let anyone judge them for not doing so:
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, OR OF THE SABBATH DAYS: WHICH ARE A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME; but the body is of Christ” (Col 2:16-17).
Col 2:16-17 indicates that the Saturday Sabbath has been abolished, as a shadow of things to come, fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, all the sabbath-keeping cults are guilty of transgressing this very commandment, which is part of Gods law, so how does that fare for the one that is attempting to keep the law for his entrance into the kingdom of God?
Moreover, the NT explicitly states that the Sabbath was a type of the believer’s resting from his own works and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. It contrasts entering into God’s rest by repentant faith alone with the failure of the Jews to receive true Sabbath-rest, because they did not rest from their works and trust in the Messiah. People must cease from their own works and enter into God’s true Sabbath-rest by repentant faith in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ:
“For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest . . . there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” (Heb 4:2, 9-11).
The reference here of God resting from His works refers back to Gen 2:2-3, whichpointed forward to the promised salvation-rest in the Messiah. When SDAs argue that the seventh-day Sabbath, they miss the fact that the church is not an institution that pertains to this world and the old creation, but to the new creation, the New Jerusalem and the world to come (cf. Col 3:10; 2 Cor 5:17; Rev 21:1; Tit 3:5; Matt 19:28).
According to the NT, one who is resting from his works and trusting in Christ has entered the true rest every day of the week, and will enter the future eternal rest with God, while the sabbath-keeping cult follower who is trusting in his Saturday worship and other works of the law to help earn or maintain salvation is actually rejecting the true rest Christ has purchased for His people!
If a Jewish convert to Christ wished to continue to celebrate the Sabbath, the Passover, or any other Jewish festival day in his home, or wished to obey the Jewish dietary laws, that was tolerable, because salvation is by grace through faith alone, not by Sabbath-observance, or any other works. However, none of the Jewish festivals is binding in any way on the born again believer:
“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks” (Rom 14:5-6).
5. Neither the apostles or the early churches in the Bible observed the Sabbath; they met on Sundays, the Lord's Day.
The Bible does not say that the apostles and early churches observed the sabbath. Paul visited synagogues on the sabbath only to preach the gospel to his brethren according to the flesh (Ac. 13:14- 44; 16:13-14; 17:2-4; 18:4).
The rest and worship of the Lord should take place on Sunday, the first day of the week, where possible. Here are some reasons why:
The Holy Spirit descended on the first day, which was Pentecost (Ac. 2:1). Pentecost was on the 50th day after the sabbath following the wave offering (Lev. 23:15-16). That the day of Pentecost, Acts 2, fell on Sunday has been believed and maintained by Christians in all ages. The time of the Pentecost was thus stated: "Ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be complete, even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days." (Lev. 23:15-16). The day after the seventh Sabbath would certainly be the first day of the week, Sunday. Thus Pentecost was always on a on the first day, Sunday. So plain is the point that even the SDA's themselves have admitted it (Elder U. Smith, The Sanctuary, pp. 283-284).
The purchase of our redemption was completed on the first day (Rom. 4:25).
Jesus arose from the dead on the first day (Mk. 16:9).
Christ was in the tomb during the sabbath, and arose as the firstborn from the dead on the first day, Sunday. The sabbath signifies the last day of the old creation (Gen. 2:2). Sunday is the first day of the new creation.
Christians/disciples were assembled to meet and worship on the first day (Ac. 20:6-7; 1 Cor. 16:2). It is unsurprising that there are no examples in the NT anywhere of churches meeting for worship specifically on Saturdays, the the OT Sabbath. On occasion churches would meet every day of the week (Ac 2:47), but apart from such special times, every single example in the NT for church worship was on the first day of the week (Matt 28:8-10; Mk 16:1-2, 10-11; Lk 24:33-34; Jn 20:19-26; Ac 2; 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2). “The first day of the week” was “when the disciples came together to break bread” for the Lord’s Supper (Ac 20:7), and when the churches in different areas assembled week by week and took up the monetary “collection” (1 Cor 16:1-2), because the first day of the week is when Christ rose from the grave (Mk 16:9), and it is the “Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10).
Jesus first appeared and met with His disciples post-resurrection, on the first day (Matt 28:8-10; Mk 16:10-11; Lk 24:33-34; Jn 20:19-23).
Jesus met with the disciples at different places and repeatedly on the first day (Mk. 16:9-11, 12-13; Matt. 28:8-10; Lk. 24:34; Jn. 20:19-23).
Before Pentecost, the church was meeting on successive first days of the week and communing with the risen Christ at that time (John 20:19; 24-26). The Bible skips over the sabbath, and no record of the church assembling, or of them having corporate fellowship with the Lord Jesus on Saturday, is given.
Jesus blessed the disciples on the first day (Jn. 20:19).
Jesus imparted to the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit on the first day (Jn. 20:22).
Jesus commissioned the disciples to preach the gospel to all the world on the first day (Jn. 20:21; Mk. 16:9-15).
Jesus ascended to Heaven, was seated at the right hand of the Father and was made Head of all, on the first day (Jn. 20:17; Eph 1:20).
Many of the dead saints arose from the grave, on the first day (Matt. 27:52- 53).
The first day became the day of joy and rejoicing to the disciples (Jn. 20:20; Lk. 24:41).
The gospel of the risen Christ was first preached on the first day (Lk. 24:34).
"The Lord's Day" (Rev 1:10) as penned by John the Apostle, is the day Christ arose from the dead. It was on a Sunday, the day which has been celebrated for two thousands years as the Christian "Sabbath." "The Sabbath" as we know was the term invariably used for the Jewish seventh day. John himself always used that term when speaking of the seventh day. See Jn 5:9-10, 16, 18; 7:22-23; 9:14, 16; 19:31. Had he meant that day in Rev. 1:10, he certainly would have said "Sabbath Day," not Lord's Day. Nowhere in all the Bible is the seventh day ever even once called the Lord's Day.
Conclusion
Matt 22:29 reflects the truth of the Sabbatarian cults,
“[They] do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”
Erring comes from not knowing the Scriptures. Christ would sharply reprove them as He did the hypocritical Pharisees, whom they emulate.
God requiring Jewish Sabbath-keeping for Christians, and then claiming Sunday keeping is the Mark of the Beast and Antichrist are just a few of the many heresies derived from the demonic philosophies of Ellen G. White. She also taught the false doctrine of soul sleep (that the dead remain unconscious in the grave until the resurrection); the false doctrine of annihilation (that the unsaved will be burned up and will not suffer eternal torment in the lake of fire); that keeping the Law, including the Sabbath, is required to be saved; etc; etc.
The obvious reason for their serious perversion of Scripture is their lost estate. To understand Scripture requires have the indwelling Spirit of God and that requires the new birth. If they used the law right to start with, for what it was designed, as a school master, then they could also be saved in Christ. Until then, they cannot and will not be saved, since they “being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Is it through the law the righteousness of God is received, or through faith? The next passage gives us the answer: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Rom 10:3-4). Every false religious group in the world makes the fatal error of rejecting Gods righteousness for their own supposed righteousness. The Great Physician can only permanently heal those who recognize their sinful condition and truly repent (Lk 5:31-32).
We feel compassion for those who think that keeping the Jewish Sabbath will help to save them and secure their salvation. What a vicious lie this is. What it actually does is only help to secure their eternal conscience damnation, and not annihilation as they teach. In their attempts to keep the law and be justified through the law, they cannot be saved by grace (Gal 5; Rom 11:6). If salvation is “by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” (Rom 11:6). They do not truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation if they think that any good deed they have done, are doing, or will do helps save them, or if they believe that any religious ritual, such as baptism or communion, or a religious celebration, such as worshiping on the Sabbath, has a particle to do with the forgiveness of sins. God’s Word is clear:
“For by grace [undeserved favour] are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9)
“To him that worketh not, but believeth on him [Jesus Christ] that justifieth [declares righteous] the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom 4:5)
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us” (Ti 3:5)
You cannot be saved by trying to keep the ten commandments and the rest of the laws in the Bible. No law has ever been given which can give life, for
“If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Gal 3:21-22)
Men who talk about keeping the Sabbath that God established in Genesis and thus enter into God's rest are only deceiving and kidding themselves. Only at the new birth can one enter into this bliss. It is not a matter of sundown to sundown, abstaining from all physical labor or going to bed at night and feeling good because 'I have kept the commandment.' Rather, this eternal and divine rest is secured by receiving Jesus Christ through true repentance and faith in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There is absolutely no other way. Heb 4:3 declares,
"For we which have believed do enter into [God's] rest.”
Hence our Lord's call,
“Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt 11:28-29)
This blessed rest has nothing to do with the fading, ailing human flesh that is satisfying with achieving a personal goal, but rather it is a gift of grace for the weary sin-sick human soul.
Saving faith is also not just mental assent to facts, but repentant faith and trust upon Christ alone to save (made possible by the grace of God). The justified can say,
“I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim 1:12)
One who makes law-keeping necessary for salvation may know facts about the Bible and God, as even the devils do (Jam 2:19), but he does not have that justifying “faith” which gives “glory to God,” for he is not “fully persuaded that, what [God] ha[s] promised, he [is] able also to perform” (Rom 4:20-5:1), since he rejects Christ’s many promises to save every single person who repentantly believes. The Lord Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (Jn 6:47; cf. 1:12-13; 3:14-18, 36; 5:24; 6:35, 40; 11:25-26; 20:31; Ac 10:43; 13:39; 16:31; Rom 1:16; 3:22-28; 4:3-5; 9:33; 10:4, 11, etc.). Therefore, salvation is by repentant faith alone (Mk 1:15; Ac 20:21). No person has always believed in Christ. Salvation comes at a moment in time, instantaneously, when a lost, helpless sinner recognizes the justice of their eternal damnation, and they turn from their wickedness and sins, and trust solely in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls and for eternal life, and so pass from spiritual death to spiritual life (Eph 2:1-10). You must forsake and turn from all your works and confidence in anything other than Jesus Christ, including your supposed goodness, your religious rituals, and your attempts to obey the law and keep the Sabbath. You must place your faith and trust and confidence in the Saviour’s blood and righteousness alone.
The mouth pieces for the sabbath-keeping cults do need to understand the gravity of their situation in pushing false doctrine and a false gospel. The Bible calls them “dogs” (Matt 7:6), wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15) and many other grievous things. Eternal hell fire will be worst for them than the Biden’s and Fauci’s and Trudeau's who commit mass genocidal murder (Matt 11:20-24, spoken to people by the way who were pushing the same abominable heresies as the SDA, while refusing to repent).
"Then began [Jesus] to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." (Matt 11:20-24)
Salvation is not by a sinner’s practice of the Sabbath nor by keeping of the other nine commandments, but by repentant faith alone in Christ’s cross-work (Rom 3:28; Gal 2:16).
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Gal 2:16)
The law condemns, not saves, which is why 2 Cor 3 explicitly states that what was written on “tables of stone” (v. 3), the ten commandments, were a “ministration of death, written and engraven in stones” (v. 7), and are “done away” (vv. 7, 11, 14) and “abolished” (v. 13). The NT is clear that “the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners” (1 Tim 1:9). The law can only curse a sinner, because no sinner can keep it. It brings bondage, cursing and death.
“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.” (Gal 3:10-12)
The law does not empower believers to live holy lives—they are holy because they are led by the Holy Spirit and are free from the condemnation of the law:
“If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law . . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Gal 5:18, 23)
Just to make it clear and avoid any confusion; we are free as far as being no longer in bondage to the law and under its curse and punishment of death, but never free from fulfilling its moral obligations (Rom 3:31; 8:1-2), which we do, and can do (1 Jn 5:2-3) once we are delivered from its dominion over us as sinners (Rom 6-7).
If you will repentantly believe in the true gospel of Jesus Christ, you can be delivered from the curse of the law:
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Gal 3:13-14)
