Question:

My husband was raised as a Seventh-Day Adventist but he doesn’t keep the Sabbath in the way it is meant to be kept. He believes that you can do anything you want as long as you don’t work. He has also told me he is agnostic. I don’t want to nag him about how I think the Sabbath should be kept, but how am I to get him to understand how the Sabbath should be kept?

Kathleen

Answer: Dear Kathleen,

It seems that you misunderstand the position of Plain Truth Ministries on the Sabbath. I may not be the source you would anticipate, in terms of the answer you are looking for.

However, permit me to comment briefly. We do not believe that the Sabbath can be "kept" as it "ought to be" – and we do not believe that the Sabbath can be "broken". In fact, that is just the point of Jesus’ ministry and atoning work on the cross. He did for us what we can never do for ourselves. He paid a debt he did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.

The Sabbath, along with the entire old covenant, was fulfilled by Christ. He gave us new commandments, a new covenant, which in fact was based on the old covenant, but was not the same covenant at all. The New Testament does not state that Christians are under the old covenant, but that we have been saved by grace through faith, and that he saves us in order that we might be his workmanship. As his workmanship we are tools in his hands, obeying him, following him, sharing light and salt in the world, that the world may see Christ as he lives within us.

The sin lists and the virtue lists of the New Testament do not list Sabbath keeping or Sabbath breaking as cardinal points of commission or omission. Neither was the Sabbath "transferred" to Sunday, as some teach. The old covenant Sabbath has been fulfilled in Christ, who is our rest. He is Lord, even of the Sabbath. Hebrews, Galatians, Romans, and Colossians – as well as the Sabbath controversies of the four Gospels make this clear.

Christians are to gather together, to have fellowship, to have communion and take communion – but we are not indebted to any day(s). All time is holy for Christians. The day we choose to worship on is just that – our choice. We do not worship the day – we do not keep the day – we worship the Lord whenever we come together, and we are free to do that at any time. Saturday is fine, and so is Sunday. But those days are not holy – therefore we are free to go shopping, or to a ballgame on any day, if that is our preference.

The Sabbath remains a principle in the sense that it is good for Christians to take time to worship God – formally and informally. It is good for us, physically, to rest and recharge our batteries. We are not made to work every day of the week, month, and year. We need time to rest, reflect, contemplate, relax, meditate, etc. That is important, and should not be overlooked. But the cross ended forever any obligation Christians have to "holy" time or "holy" days.

You are not the first to come to our website with questions about the Sabbath. And, I can imagine that you may not "like" this brief answer I have given. We have a number of other questions and answers on this topic which we post -–simply go to our website, click on "Ask Greg" – and you will see a list of categories of questions. The Sabbath is one of them – click on that, and there will be several questions and answers you might find helpful.

If you find this information to be different than what you have traditionally believed, please do not reject this out of hand, but give it some thought, prayer, and study. If you wish to raise this question again with me, please do – I can send you some books and materials which will help you and your husband. I am well aware of the Sabbatarian view (Saturday or Sunday) and how devastating it can be to a real relationship with our Lord. I offer you my help in this regard.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht