In Him Ministries:

Seventh-day Adventism Refuted: The Sabbath and the First Day of the week according to the New Covenant      1) The Sabbath was not a commandment before the time of Moses. The first time God commanded anyone to keep the seventh day as a Sabbath rest was only after the exodus, as a prelude to God giving Israel the Mosaic Law at Mount Sinai (Ex. 16; 20:8). • Paul tells us in Romans 5:13-14 that there was no law given from the time of Adam until the time of Moses. From Adam to Moses there is no record of anyone keeping the Sabbath. In Genesis 2 God speaks of the seventh day of creation week and not the Sabbath. Genesis 2:1-3 was a description of what God did, not what God requires of us. There is no reason to believe that God viewed every seventh day as holy. God declared that particular day (the actual seventh day of creation week) special and holy because He had completed His work of creation. 2) The Sabbath was for Israel alone and served as a ceremonial sign of the Mosaic Covenant (Ex. 31:16-17; Ne. 9:13-14; Ezek. 20:12, 20). Christians live under the New Covenant now (2 Cor. 3; Heb. 8). We are no longer required to observe any of the signs of the Mosaic Covenant. Circumcision (Gen. 17:9-14; Lev. 12:1-3); the  Passover (Ex. 12:13-14; Lev. 23:4-8); and the Sabbaths (Ex. 31:13) were all made obsolete by the New Covenant. 3) The Gentile nations were never commanded to keep the Sabbath in the Old Testament, or condemned if they did not. If Sabbath observance was meant to be a universal, eternal moral principle then you would expect to find scripture references that condemn the Gentiles for breaking it. • The stranger was commanded to keep Sabbath while in Jerusalem. A person could choose to live in Israel but just like here, they had to keep the constitutional laws of the land. If they were out trying to buy and sell, they would be tempting God's people to sin. If they wanted to keep Passover and the other feasts they had to be circumcised and become a Jew (Ex. 12:43-49). Those who became followers of God would be Israelites in God's view (Jer. 12:16) and could participate in the Passover (Ex. 12:48-49) and the other feasts. 4) There is no command anywhere in the New Testament for Christians to keep any day of the week holy. 5) The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 did not order Gentiles to keep the Sabbath. • The Jerusalem Council contains no reference to Sabbath keeping. The Mosaic Covenant (Acts 15:1, 5) and the covenant sign of circumcision were discussed and deemed unnecessary (Acts 15:28-29). The Apostles said that forcing the Gentiles to keep the Mosaic Covenant would be like placing a yoke around their necks (Acts 15:10). If Sabbath-keeping was going to be commanded of anyone in the New Covenant it would have been mentioned in the discussion because it would have been an unfamiliar practice for many of the Gentile converts. Sabbath-keeping was not discussed because it was not a requirement for Christians who live under the New Covenant. • The Law of Moses is obsolete. In Romans 10:4 Paul tells us that Christ is the end of the Law (for righteousness). Galatians 3 says the law came 430 years after, and was added to the Abrahamic Covenant of circumcision. The law was given until the "seed should come." In Christ, the seed has come. The book of Hebrews teaches that the Mosaic Law provided the basis for the Levitical priesthood, but for a new priesthood to be established (on the order of Melchizedek), a change in the law was required (Heb. 7:18-22). Paul specifically refers to the Decalogue in 2 Corinthians 3:4-11 by saying the commandments written in stone have come to an end. 6) The Sabbath law is not written on the unregenerate man's conscience like the other laws of the Decalogue are. In Romans 2:14-15 we are taught that the universal principles of God’s Law are written on man’s heart instinctively. We do see a universal instinct that murder and theft are immoral and wrong in society, but we do not see a natural tendency for the religious observance of the seventh day Sabbath anywhere. 7) In Galatians 4:10-11, Paul rebuked the Galatians for thinking God expected them to observe special days, including the seventh day Sabbath. 8) The New Testament explicitly teaches that Sabbath-keeping along with the other ceremonial requirements of the Old Covenant Law are not required under the New Covenant (Matt. 11:28-30; 12:1-8; Acts 15:1-28; Col. 2:14-17; Gal. 4:10-11; Rom. 14:5-12; Eph. 2:11-18; Heb. 3:7-4:13; 8:6-9:4; 10:23-25). 9) Acts 20:7 says that the church met on the first day of the week to break bread, which was the common meal associated with the communion service (1 Cor. 11:20-22). • Sunday, the Lord's Day, was the first day of the week, it was the day the church regularly gathered for worship in remembrance of Christ's resurrection. (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; 1 Cor. 16:2). The writings of the Early Church fathers confirm that the church continued to meet on Sunday, the Lord's Day, after the close of the New Testament period (contrary to the claims of many Seventh-day Sabbatarians who claim that Sunday worship was not instituted until the fourth century). • The Sabbath was not transferred to Sunday either. Every day is a Sabbath rest for believers who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for their eternal salvation (Heb. 4:9-11). 10) In Romans 14:5, Paul forbids those people who held certain days higher, or with greater esteem than another day (a Sabbath day, Feast Days, and fasting days are all in view) to condemn those who do not (Gentile believers). We are not to bind another person’s conscience with commands that are not applicable to the Christian life. There are two commands we are to pursue where our Savior gets all the glory, loving God and loving our neighbor. When we do those two things we fulfill the law of Christ. 11) In Colossians 2:16-17, false teachers were evidently insisting on abstinence from certain foods and observance of certain days. Paul said that these were only shadows of what was to come and that they have been made obsolete by the coming of Christ (Heb. 8:13). We are told not to judge anyone over those issues. The phrase "a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day" refers to the annual, monthly, and weekly holy days of the Jewish calendar (cf. 1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 31:3; Ezek. 45:17; Hosea 2:11). The weekly seventh day Sabbath is clearly meant because Paul had already mentioned the festivals and new moon celebrations and would have no reason to repeat himself. 12) Hebrews 4:3 tells us that the rest God wants us to enter is the rest of faith. It is not about keeping a day. The book of Hebrews is talking about resting in Christ's salvation. The Jewish Christians were warned not to go back to Judaism and leave Christ behind (backslide or apostatize). Trying to keep the Sabbath day as a moral obligation is lapsing back into Judaism and putting yourself back under the law. Returning to Judaism is described as going back to perdition because only Jesus can save us, not the Old Testament system of rules and regulations. He is “the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Heb. 5:9). 13) The Apostle Paul warned Christians not to judge other Christians over the Sabbath and Holy days of Judaism (Col. 2:14-17; Rom. 14:5-12). 14) The command to observe the seventh day Sabbath is the only one of the Ten Commandments not repeated after the resurrection. The writers of the New Testament repeated the nine moral commandments of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments), but never repeated the Sabbath commandment as binding. • The Old Covenant predicted the Sabbath would be brought to an end (Isa. 1:13; Lam. 2:6; Hosea 2:11). Sabbath-keeping along with the other ceremonial requirements of the Old Covenant Law are not required in the New Covenant (Acts 15:1-28; Col. 2:14-17; Gal. 4:10-11; Rom. 14:5-12; Eph. 2:11-18). • Christians are told to keep the law of Christ, which is the law of love (Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:19-24; John 13:34-35; Matt. 5:44; Gal. 6:2; Rom. 13:8-10; James 2:8; 1 Jn. 4:7-8; 5:3) • The law of Christ and the Law of Moses have similar commandments, but just because nine of the Ten Commandments can be found in the New Testament, it does not mean that the Law of Moses is still in effect. If a Christian steals, they break the law of Christ, not the Law of Moses. If we choose to keep part of the law, such as the dietary restrictions, we are free to do so, but keeping the Law of Moses out of the belief that we are obligated to do so denies the perfect and finished work of Jesus Christ. • The Apostle Paul wrote over one third of the New Testament and never once told his Gentile converts to keep the Mosaic Law or the Sabbath. Not once! Paul gave his churches instruction on everything they needed to know about Christianity: morality, giving, leadership principles, church organization, spiritual gifts, theology and everything else they needed to know to live the Christian life and never even once commanded anyone to keep the seventh day Sabbath. Why? 15) The Mosaic Covenant served as a dividing wall or partition that was meant to separate Israel from the unbelieving Gentiles (Eph. 2:11-15; John 7:35; Acts 14:1, 5; 18:4; Rom. 3:9; 3:29; 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:22-24; etc.), Christ brought unity between the two groups by doing away with the partition. The Old Covenant separated the people of Israel from the rest of the world (John 4:22; Rom. 9:4-5). The Gentiles were separated from the commonwealth of Israel and they were strangers to the covenants of promise. The New Covenant made both groups into one, “the church of God” (1 Cor. 10:32). The New Covenant fulfills all the divine promises from the previous covenants in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20; Heb. 7:20-22; 8:6; 9:15). Christ abolished the dividing wall by fulfilling it and removing the law’s condemnation for believers (Matt. 5:17; Rom. 8:1; Heb. 9:11-14; 10:1-10). When we are in Christ, we become a new person, part of a new human race made in the image of Christ, the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45, 49; Eph. 4:24). The "new" refers to something completely unlike what it was before. It refers to being different in kind and quality. Spiritually speaking, when someone comes to Christ they are no longer a Jew or Gentile, they are simply a Christian (Rom. 10:12-13; Gal. 3:28). We live under a New Covenant now. It’s not the Old Covenant all over again. Each covenant has its own laws. The Law of the Old Covenant has come to an end! The New Covenant is the legal code Christians are told to live by today. Paul said he wasn’t under the Law of the Jews any longer because he was under the law of Christ (1 Cor. 9:19-23). The only laws Christians are required to keep are the laws expressed in the New Covenant. Not some ad-mixture of laws from the Old and the New Covenants.   “Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible” “Used by permission. All rights reserved.” ESV Text Edition: 2016 Seventh-day Adventist Resource Page Links to Helpful Websites, Books and Videos on the SDAs The Seventh-day Adventist Church: (Beliefs and Errors) Learn more about our beliefs Read more Local Ministries Available Serving Denver, Colorado and the Front Range.