MOV:Is Sunday the Christian Sabbath?  by Mark S. Camp

The Sabbath day of the fourth commandment was part of the
covenant which God gave to Moses. The 10 commandments formed the
core or main part of the covenant. The commandments were written on the
two tables of stone. In Deuteronomy 9:15, Moses says, "So I turned and
came down from the mountain...and the two tablets of the covenant were
in my two hands."

The Sabbath day was given as a day of rest for the people of Israel.
It was also the sign of the Mosaic covenant, just as the rainbow was
the sign of the covenant made with Noah, and just as circumcision was
the sign of the covenant made with

Abraham. Since the Sabbath day was the sign of the covenant, it is
proper that it is found right in the heart of the 10 com- mandments,
the core or nucleus of the covenant.

Most people will say that all of the 10 commandments are God's
"Moral Law." This is right in one sense. God gave these laws as a
covenant and the people under that covenant were morally obligated to
obey them. However, a perpetual or eternal moral law is one that can
not be broken under any circumstance with- out fear of punishment.
Therefore, it is never right to kill someone in a rage of anger or just
because you don't like them. (The commandment not to murder is not
dealing with an act of self-defense.) It is never right to dishonor
one's parents. It is never right to take the Lord's name in vain. It is
never right to commit adultery, to be jealous, or to steal. It is never
right to worship another God. To break any of these "eternal" laws makes
a person subject to punishment.

However, a ceremonial law could be broken if necessary. David could
eat the bread of the presence because the hunger of his men outweighed
the keeping of the ceremonial law. He would not be punished for
breaking it for the right reason. The Sabbath could be broken when acts
of mercy or necessity had to be per- formed. Therefore these types of
laws are not moral in the
sense that they can never be broken without fear of punishment.

It is also important for us who are under the New Covenant to
realize that things under the Old Covenant were set forth as types
(examples) and shadows of better things which were to
come. Failure to see this indicates a lack of understanding about
the nature of God's progressive revelation and the his- tory of
redemption.

The culmination of the old covenant types and shadows is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Sabbath commandment assured the cove- nant people of
a day of rest. (Keep in mind that the Sabbath institution was comprised
of eight various sabbaths, including the weekly Sabbath, the seventh
year releasing of debts, and the year of Jubilee. If we are to still
observe a weekly
Sabbath, why are we not also observing all the other types of
Sabbaths?) Jesus was the Lord of the Sabbath. When he came, he promised
rest to all who would come to him by faith. The shadows of the old
covenant passed away - the substance or
reality had come.

Under the New Covenant, a person keeps the Sabbath when he or she
ceases their own efforts at righteousness, and finds their rest in
Christ. Every day that you are saved you are "keeping the Sabbath day"
so to speak. There is still a Sabbath-rest to come when the Lord
returns and calls us to glory, ushering in an eternity of unbroken rest
with him. Just as the trumpet
sounded signifying the start of the Sabbath Jubilee year, so also
one day the trumpet of the Lord shall sound signifying the start of the
eternal Sabbath-rest of God.

My proposition is therefore, that Sunday IS NOT the Christian
Sabbath. The Christian Sabbath is the day of one's salvation when rest
is found in Jesus Christ, the reality of the shadow, the Lord of the
Sabbath.

If Sunday is the Christian Sabbath, then I want to ask the fol-
lowing questions:

1. Where in the New Covenant Scriptures is there any
mention of what is proper and what is not proper for a believer to
do on Sunday?

2. Does the Bible prohibit recreation on the day of rest? After all,
who determines what is rest and what is
not? One person may get rest by sleeping all day,
another may get rest by spending the day fishing,
another by swimming, and so on.

3. Some people say it is wrong to eat out on Sunday
because it causes other people to work on the
Sabbath day. I ask, why then does that same person use electricity
or gas on Sunday? Why does that
person make a telephone call just to talk casually
with someone? Why does that person read the Sunday paper? Why does
that person even drive on Sunday?

After all, someone has to be at work to run the gas and electric
company; someone has to be at work at
the telephone company; someone has to be out policing the highways
in case of an accident or traffic viola- tion; someone is at the water
company keeing the water going so that the dishes can be washed
(couldn't they be washed on Monday?)

4. Does the Scripture teach that believers are obligated to have
both morning and evening services on Sunday? No, it does not. The Bible
does say that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves
together. When the church meets, unless providentially hindered, the
members should come together. But, if the church does not meet two or
three times on Sunday, the belie- ver ought not to feel guilty. We
assemble for fellow- ship and worship, not to meet a quota. Some
churches have so much going on on Sunday, that it becomes any- thing
but a day of rest!

You see, it boils down to this - Everyone who keeps Sunday as the
Christian Sabbath, has his or her own set of rules for ob- serving it.
There is no one set way to do it. If you really were consistent about
every minute thing you could or could not do, you would go insane
trying to do or not do them.

In conclusion, I believe the Apostle was most correct when he wrote
to the Colossians, "Therefore let no one act as your
judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or new
moon or a Sabbath day - things which are a mere shadow of what is to
come; but the substance belongs to Christ."
(Colossians 2:16-17)

The Apostle is also most correct when he writes to those in
Rome saying, "One man regards one day abive another, another regards
every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind."
(Romans 14:5)

If a person feels that by making Sunday a special day of
observance to the Lord, that is fine; he or she is at liberty to do
so. But, that person has no Scriptural right whatsoever to impose his
way of doing things onto other believers. We
will all stand before our Master to give account for ourselves and
to our Master we will each stand or fall.