And this is IT. Right there. The Sabbath rest was a type --a prophetic picture-- of our rest in Christ. True salvation is its antitype: in other words, its fulfillment. This is made clear in the first eleven verses of Hebrews 4:
1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, [a]not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if He had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest (Greek: σαββατισμὸς - sabbatismos) for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
The fact that the Sabbath prefigured our complete rest in Christ is why it is the only levitical ritual (other than the worship of God) that is bound up in the Ten Commandments.
Notice that, despite the many rabbinical laws that they added to this commandment, the Bible only details one such regulation. It is found in Exodus 35:3--
You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.
Why this one prohibition? Well, when you realize that the Sabbath is a type of Christ and the salvation He offers, it becomes easier to understand. Fire in the Bible pictures judgment. And there is no longer any judgment on the believer in Christ, for that judgement was borne by Jesus at Calvary. So to be a proper picture of salvation, there could be no representation of judgment in the Sabbath that portrayed the complete rest we would have in Christ. Glory to God!
I pray that each one of you has truly entered into the true Sabbath rest that God has prepared for us in Christ and is not merely clinging to an observance of the picture of that rest. May God richly bless all of you.
Like all the times the Pharisees were mad at Jesus for healing on the Sabbath or the disciples 'working on the Sabbath' by picking grain and eating it as they walked through the field. What did Jesus say?
[Mar 2:27 NASB95] 27 Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Paul agrees with you that you are allowed to regard one day as more holy than another (v 5). The point is, that observing the Sabbath (no matter what day it is) is all about worshiping and observing God (v 6). Worshiping and observing God is not good for God because God needs nothing (Acts 17:25), it is good for us, that is the reason why the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
[Rom 14:5-6 NASB95]
5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day [alike.] Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.
When we take the whole counsel of the Word of God, it is plain to see.
100% agree with you both!
Of course it does.
Because the 4th commandment (3rd if your RC) says that it is to be observed on the 7th day of the week.
so in other words you are here to tell us that Sunday is all wrong (in spite of what Paul CLEARLY said in Romans 14:5-6 about one day versus another) and that we should all go back under the law in spite of the fact that Jesus fulfilled the Law for us, and we are under Grace.
Romans 8:1-2
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
This passage tells us we are NOT under the law
Next
Paul gets quite direct with the Galatians who were trying to mix keeping the law thru Circumcision (which is another part of the law, as is Sabbath keeping) and the same point applies.
Christ set us FREE from the law. We are NOT to go back to the yoke of slavery that is law keeping because no person is justified by the law. The law is a schoolmaster to teach us that we CAN'T ever HOPE to keep the Law! That points us to the Cross where Jesus sacrifice paid it all. All the Law was PAID IN FULL by Jesus so that we can be free.
Galatians 5: 1-4
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
I quoted that passage even longer in my previous response to you.
So now it is clear, you want to show us that the law is still in effect, that we must keep the law in spite of what Paul clearly says, and that we should keep a Saturday observance rather than Sunday - the FIRST day is the day most Christians observe as seen in
Acts 20:7 and 1 Cor 16:2 ,
Act 20:7 On the first day of the week we
came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.
This is a clear instance of gathering on a SUNDAY, by Paul in Troas. "coming together to break bread" is COMMUNION! This next one refers to when the church gathers, an offering is made in advance, saving it up so that when Paul comes, no collection has to be made. Again ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.
1 Cor 16:1-2 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
The Early Church Fathers also reference meeting on a Sunday, the first day of the week.
I'm not sure how much more Bible you intend to ignore.
We have given you plenty of Scripture backing up the fact that we are not under the law, that we are free to choose whatever day of the week to set aside to worship, and that SUNDAY actually has scripture to back it up.
Legalism infecting the church was a problem that Paul dealt with.
Christ set us free from this.
