Dr. Paul Manuel—2011
Linda and I came from a Baptist church that worshipped on Sunday, and we did not decide to keep the seventh day until we went away to college a few years after we were married. A Jewish friend had suggested that we consider the Sabbath, so we examined what the Bible taught about this and other aspects of God's law. For us, it was an exciting time of discovery. I was enthusiastic about what we learned and wanted to share this new information with other Christians but soon realized that they were not nearly as excited. Some people were unable to consider such a radical notion as the Sabbath; others were struggling with more fundamental issues; still others thought I was an extremist. Being in school during this period of change helped, as we could apply the tools of study we were acquiring to our research. Eventually, we discovered Seventh Day Baptists, and we were able to observe the Sabbath more easily.i Time and reflection also tempered my enthusiasm and allowed me to take a more nuanced approach, one that answered three questions that arise when examining the common Seventh Day Baptist claim that the Sabbath is a universal requirement, questions Seventh Day Baptists seem often unwilling or unable adequately to address.ii
Sometimes Seventh Day Baptists can be smug about their observing the seventh day. They should realize, though, that the Sabbath is part of the covenant God made with Israel. Nowhere does He make observing the day incumbent upon gentiles living outside the land. No one before Israel kept the Sabbath—not Adam, Noah, or the patriarchs—and no one besides Israel kept the Sabbath—not the Egyptians, Assyrians, or Babylonians. While the seventh day is mentioned in the creation account of Genesis, it is simply with the observation that God rested then. There is no obligation that man should do the same.iv In fact, the term "Sabbath" does not appear in scripture until the exodus, when God makes it "a sign" of His covenant with Israel.v Gentiles learned about the Sabbath from Israel, and those living outside the land who chose to keep the day did so at God's invitation not His insistence, and because they joined themselves to Israel.vi
Realize, though, that God does not make casual offerings, and He does not want a casual response. Like His invitation to receive salvation, gentiles can accept or reject His invitation to keep the Sabbath but, like His invitation to salvation, He does not expect them to accept the Sabbath one day and to reject it the next, or to keep it only when it is convenient. As Jesus said,
So, is there any advantage for non-Jews to keep the Sabbath or to keep any other aspect of the Sinaitic law? ...Indeed, there is. There is both a temporal benefit (here and now) and an eternal benefit (then and there).
Most Seventh Day Baptists, despite what they might assume, do not keep the Sabbath.xi They devote an hour or so to church on Saturday morning but do as they please the rest of the day. Those who do keep the Sabbath understand and experience the blessing God promises, the blessing of rest and rejuvenation and more, because there is an advantage now. Moreover...
Keep in mind that it is possible to negate your reward if you keep the Sabbath or any aspect of the law but ignore other responsibilities. As Jesus said to some Pharisees...
Most Seventh Day Baptists think the Sabbath is a requirement for everyone or, at least, for all believers, which puts them at odds with the majority of the Christian Church. The main reason Seventh Day Baptists give for this divide is that their Sunday brethren are simply uninformed. If they honestly considered the case for the seventh day, they would agree that they, too, should keep the Sabbath. Fortunately, in the end, God will overlook such sins of ignorance, and, because their breaking the fourth commandment is unintentional, they will still be saved. That, at least, is the way many Seventh Day Baptists account for the difference over this issue and allow for the inclusion of other Christians in heaven. The end will be different for those who have considered the case for the seventh day and have not concluded that they should keep the Sabbath. God will not overlook sins of deliberation. Because their breaking the fourth commandment is intentional, if they persist, they will not get into heaven.
Unfortunately, this second group often includes close friends and family whom Seventh Day Baptists have tried but failed to convince. Herein lies a dilemma for many Seventh Day Baptists.
If the Sabbath is a requirement for everyone or, at least, for all Christians, then to reject it knowingly constitutes serious sin with grave consequences. It also casts doubt on whether those who persist in holding to Sunday can even be children of God. (For example, what about those who grew up in this church and later moved away—because of work or school or marriage—who have maintained their Christian commitment but do not keep the Sabbath and, instead, worship on Sunday? Is their eternal fate in jeopardy?) Most Seventh Day Baptists are tolerant of their first day brethren, but they are troubled—or should be—by the implications of viewing the Sabbath as required.
People choose to keep the Sabbath or not to keep the Sabbath for various reasons, some good, some not so good. Not everyone who attends this church has a commitment to the Sabbath (see n. xi).xiv The reason I keep the Sabbath may be different from the reason you keep the Sabbath. It is not a reason I inherited because I grew up in a Seventh Day Baptist church, nor is it a reason I espouse lightly. As a minister, I am especially responsible to handle carefully and "correctly...the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15), a responsibility I take seriously and for which I will give account when I stand "before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor 5:10)." Whatever your view about the Sabbath, I urge you to be careful how you judge your Christian neighbor who worships on Sunday. As Paul says,
If you are a Seventh Day Baptist, you have a rich, sabbatarian tradition that extends back hundreds of years. You also have a loving community of like-minded believers who support your desire to honor the seventh day. You may wish all your Christian friends and family could experience with you the rejoicing and rejuvenation of the Sabbath. Many of them, however, have chosen to express their devotion to God differently. Are they missing a blessing? Indeed, they are. Then, again, there is probably something, somewhere in what God offers that you are missing. Do not become doctrinaire in your Sabbath conviction, assuming that everyone should keep it, for then you simply mirror the rigid way some regard Sunday. As the apostle Paul also says...
Examining the Claim that the Sabbath is a Universal Requirement
- The historical question:
- How is the Sabbath, which God gave specifically to Israel, mandatory for all Christians?
- The common Seventh Day Baptist position, that God gave the Sabbath to everyone, simply does not stand under close scrutiny, certainly not for the reasons Seventh Day Baptists usually give.
- The theological question:
- Why single out the Sabbath when it belongs to a much larger corpus of God's law?
- The traditional Seventh Day Baptist view, that the Sabbath is part of the Decalogue, which God meant for all people and which has greater authority than His other commands, is a distinction that has no justification.iii
- The practical (often personal) question:
- Are Christians who do not regard the Sabbath as mandatory— the vast majority of the Church—doomed for their disobedience?
The common Seventh Day Baptist position on the Sabbath does not address these problems, not in any consistent or rigorous way. It fails to consider all relevant passages, and it ignores important constraints of context. If this is what you believe, then you should be aware of the difficulties with the position and be able to support it, both carefully and comprehensively. While the result of my analysis brings me to the same point in the end, which is to keep the Sabbath, I arrive there on a different road and for different reasons.
- Here is where the issue comes closest to home, for unlike Seventh-day Adventists, who view Sunday worship as the mark of the beast and a sign of reprobation, Seventh Day Baptists recognize the gravity of disobeying God but are not ready to condemn to perdition those they actually know—their friends and family—who hold a different opinion on this matter.
Sometimes Seventh Day Baptists can be smug about their observing the seventh day. They should realize, though, that the Sabbath is part of the covenant God made with Israel. Nowhere does He make observing the day incumbent upon gentiles living outside the land. No one before Israel kept the Sabbath—not Adam, Noah, or the patriarchs—and no one besides Israel kept the Sabbath—not the Egyptians, Assyrians, or Babylonians. While the seventh day is mentioned in the creation account of Genesis, it is simply with the observation that God rested then. There is no obligation that man should do the same.iv In fact, the term "Sabbath" does not appear in scripture until the exodus, when God makes it "a sign" of His covenant with Israel.v Gentiles learned about the Sabbath from Israel, and those living outside the land who chose to keep the day did so at God's invitation not His insistence, and because they joined themselves to Israel.vi
Realize, though, that God does not make casual offerings, and He does not want a casual response. Like His invitation to receive salvation, gentiles can accept or reject His invitation to keep the Sabbath but, like His invitation to salvation, He does not expect them to accept the Sabbath one day and to reject it the next, or to keep it only when it is convenient. As Jesus said,
Luke 9:62 ...No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.While changing one's mind about the Sabbath is not as serious as changing one's mind about salvation,vii there may still be a cost.viii
So, is there any advantage for non-Jews to keep the Sabbath or to keep any other aspect of the Sinaitic law? ...Indeed, there is. There is both a temporal benefit (here and now) and an eternal benefit (then and there).
- Isaiah relates how there is an advantage now (Isa 56:2-3, 6-8).
Isa 56:2 Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it.... 3a Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely exclude me from his people." ...6 ...foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." 8 The Sovereign LORD declares—he who gathers the exiles of Israel: "I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered."While there is no temple at the present time, this passage still indicates God's welcome of non-Jews and...
- The promise of God's blessing
Most Seventh Day Baptists, despite what they might assume, do not keep the Sabbath.xi They devote an hour or so to church on Saturday morning but do as they please the rest of the day. Those who do keep the Sabbath understand and experience the blessing God promises, the blessing of rest and rejuvenation and more, because there is an advantage now. Moreover...
- Jesus relates how there is an advantage later (Matt 5:18-19).
Matt 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.As we have seen, it is God's gracious pronouncement of justification (stage #2) in response to man's repentance and faith that renders a person fit to approach the divine presence in heaven. After justification comes sanctification (stage #3), and how a person fares in that stage of his walk with God has long-range consequences, not on where he will spend eternity but on his status in eternity. For those who keep the Sabbath, and other aspects of the law, they have...
- The prospect of great reward
Keep in mind that it is possible to negate your reward if you keep the Sabbath or any aspect of the law but ignore other responsibilities. As Jesus said to some Pharisees...
Matt 23:23 ...You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.Whatever your level of obedience, you must not become smug about it, assuming that you have some special access to God or that He views you more favorably than your Christian neighbor who does not do what you do. Billy Graham, who is not a sabbatarian, will likely enjoy a far greater reward than I will, and appropriately so, because he has done far more than I have to advance the kingdom of God.... Do not make what is voluntary (optional) for you obligatory for others.
Most Seventh Day Baptists think the Sabbath is a requirement for everyone or, at least, for all believers, which puts them at odds with the majority of the Christian Church. The main reason Seventh Day Baptists give for this divide is that their Sunday brethren are simply uninformed. If they honestly considered the case for the seventh day, they would agree that they, too, should keep the Sabbath. Fortunately, in the end, God will overlook such sins of ignorance, and, because their breaking the fourth commandment is unintentional, they will still be saved. That, at least, is the way many Seventh Day Baptists account for the difference over this issue and allow for the inclusion of other Christians in heaven. The end will be different for those who have considered the case for the seventh day and have not concluded that they should keep the Sabbath. God will not overlook sins of deliberation. Because their breaking the fourth commandment is intentional, if they persist, they will not get into heaven.
Unfortunately, this second group often includes close friends and family whom Seventh Day Baptists have tried but failed to convince. Herein lies a dilemma for many Seventh Day Baptists.
If the Sabbath is a requirement for everyone or, at least, for all Christians, then to reject it knowingly constitutes serious sin with grave consequences. It also casts doubt on whether those who persist in holding to Sunday can even be children of God. (For example, what about those who grew up in this church and later moved away—because of work or school or marriage—who have maintained their Christian commitment but do not keep the Sabbath and, instead, worship on Sunday? Is their eternal fate in jeopardy?) Most Seventh Day Baptists are tolerant of their first day brethren, but they are troubled—or should be—by the implications of viewing the Sabbath as required.
People choose to keep the Sabbath or not to keep the Sabbath for various reasons, some good, some not so good. Not everyone who attends this church has a commitment to the Sabbath (see n. xi).xiv The reason I keep the Sabbath may be different from the reason you keep the Sabbath. It is not a reason I inherited because I grew up in a Seventh Day Baptist church, nor is it a reason I espouse lightly. As a minister, I am especially responsible to handle carefully and "correctly...the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15), a responsibility I take seriously and for which I will give account when I stand "before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor 5:10)." Whatever your view about the Sabbath, I urge you to be careful how you judge your Christian neighbor who worships on Sunday. As Paul says,
Rom 14:4b To his own master he stands or falls.How, then, should we answer those three questions that arise when examining the common Seventh Day Baptist claim that the Sabbath is a universal requirement?
Examining the Claim that the Sabbath is a Universal Requirement (continued)
- The answer to the historical question:
- Q: How is the Sabbath, which God gave specifically to Israel, mandatory for all Christians?
- A: It is not. The Sabbath is an invitation God extends to all (gentile believers), but it is not an obligation He imposes on all.
- The answer to the theological question:
- Q: Why single out the Sabbath, when it belongs to a much larger corpus of God's law?
- A: We should not. In fact, many precepts from the larger corpus of God's law Christians do keep, even as there are others they could (and, perhaps, should) keep.
- The answer to the practical question:
- Q: Are Christians who do not regard the Sabbath as mandatory—the vast majority of the Church—doomed for their disobedience?
It is better to view gentile Christians' keeping the Sabbath as something they may do rather than something they must do, as a way they choose to express devotion to God rather than a way they comply with the demands of God.
- A: They are not. The reward of those who do not keep the Sabbath may be different from those who do, but their salvation is just as secure because of their repentance from sin and their faith in God.
If you are a Seventh Day Baptist, you have a rich, sabbatarian tradition that extends back hundreds of years. You also have a loving community of like-minded believers who support your desire to honor the seventh day. You may wish all your Christian friends and family could experience with you the rejoicing and rejuvenation of the Sabbath. Many of them, however, have chosen to express their devotion to God differently. Are they missing a blessing? Indeed, they are. Then, again, there is probably something, somewhere in what God offers that you are missing. Do not become doctrinaire in your Sabbath conviction, assuming that everyone should keep it, for then you simply mirror the rigid way some regard Sunday. As the apostle Paul also says...
2 Tim 3:14a ...continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of...but...
Do not make what is voluntary for you
obligatory for others.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
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Jim Skaggs