Chapter VI: Sabbath Commandments Not in The Law of Christ

Coming now to the last section in the diagram (on page 144), I emphatically deny that there is any verse of Scripture which states that God ever commanded _anybody_ to keep the sabbath day since Jesus died on the cross. No one can find such a text in the Bible. I’m not unaware of some attempts made along that line by Seventh Day Sabbatarians. For instance, they refer to Matthew 24:20, where Jesus told his disciples to pray that, when the city of Jerusalem was destroyed (in A.D. 70), they might not have to make their flight on the sabbath day. But the very same verse tells them to pray likewise that their flight be not in the winter. He told them to pray that their flight be not in the winter because it would be difficult to travel and find comfortable shelter at that season. In like manner, they were told to pray that their flight be not on the sabbath day because the unconverted Jews would still be observing the sabbath and in harmony with the commandment given by Nehemiah (ch. 13, vss. 15-17) would keep the gates of the city closed throughout the sabbath day. Under such conditions it would have been almost impossible for the Christians to have fled from the city on the sabbath day. It was for that reason that they were told to pray that their flight be not on the sabbath. Such instructions on the part of Jesus did not imply that the Christians would be expected to _rest_ on the seventh day.

Naturally you can find examples of unconverted Jews keeping the sabbath day after Jesus died on the cross. Paul went to their synagogues and preached to them on Saturday, telling them that they were no longer obligated to keep the law of Moses. We have a parallel case in Nashville today. The Seventh Day Adventists have advertised a religious meeting at the War Memorial Auditorium tonight. That does not mean that they recognize Sunday as the sabbath day, for they do not. The apostle Paul went to the synagogue where the people were on Saturday to preach to them. That does not mean that he recognized Saturday as the sabbath day, for he did not.

The sabbath is mentioned sixty times in the New Testament. Forty-three of these cases are in connection with the life of Jesus Christ. According to the flesh, Christ was a Jew. He was born under the law, “to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal. 4:4, 5). Before taking the law out of the way (Col. 2:14), he _fulfilled_ it by _obeying_ it perfectly (Matt. 5:17, 18). Naturally, he kept the sabbath, just as he kept the passover and all the other ceremonies of the law of Moses. All of this occurred before Christ died and, therefore, before his will, under which we are now living, went into effect (Heb. 9:15, 17).

In Bible history following the death of Christ, the sabbath is mentioned seventeen times. In sixteen of these cases it refers to the worship of the unconverted Jews. In the other case, the only one found in the Epistles, it is used to state that _Christians are not expected to observe it_. “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days ...” (Col. 2:16). Friends, all of this simply confirms and emphasizes the conclusion that there is absolutely not one word of Scripture to show that God ever commanded any Christian to regard the seventh day of the week as a sabbath day.