Question:

Which day is the Sabbath (correct)? Should we celebrate Easter and Christmas? When was Jesus born?

Tom

Answer: Dear Tom,

1) Saturday is the Sabbath. Some may argue that the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday (this is called Sabbath transference) but there is no biblical basis or authority for such a change, and in fact, there is not historical validation either. Monday has never been changed to Tuesday, it can’t be. Saturday is the Sabbath. Very few arguments about that.

However, I suspect that your question goes a little deeper. Since Saturday is the Sabbath, what does that mean? Does that mean that Christians as well as Jews are required to "keep" it? Does that mean that "keeping" the Sabbath proves that you are a true Christian (as opposed to false or lukewarm) and is Sabbath-keeping a "sign" (see the book of Ezekiel) of the one and only true church (or, since many churches insist on rigid Sabbath-keeping), one of the one and only true churches)?

Christians are not under the terms and regulations of the old covenant. The cross of Christ changed all of that. He fulfilled the law. This is not to say that the law is "done away" if one thinks that "done away" absolves Christians from obedience and morality. The sin and virtue lists of the New Testament are explicit and specific, going much further, in some cases, than did the old covenant. However, one does not find Sabbath "keeping" or Sabbath "breaking" among these lists – on the other hand we do find that Jesus is our Rest – in many passages. The Gospels, Hebrews, Galatians, Romans, Colossians are just a few of the books that give direction in this area.

Christians should worship, and should not neglect to gather together to do so. But Christians are not bound to old covenant days, months, and times – and are free to worship God at any time. Sunday is the day the vast majority of Christians use for worship, and while a few (not the majority by any means) "keep" it as the Sabbath, claiming that it has been transferred from Saturday, the vast majority worship on that day in honor of his resurrection.

The sign that the Jews were the people of God was circumcision and the Sabbath – the sign that Christians are God’s children is that we love one another. Jesus is central to our faith – his birth, life, death, and resurrection. For that reason the early church began to worship on Sunday, as well as on other days during the week, month, and year.

2) Should we celebrate Christmas and Easter?

There is no biblical command that we must, nor is there a biblical prohibition that we must not. Christians are free to make this decision.

Some believe that Christmas and Easter are pagan. Partly true. The days/times of the year were originally pagan festivals. The early church felt a need to celebrate the birth and the resurrection of Jesus (as well as the Lord’s Supper, which the Lord himself commanded, changing the old covenant Passover into a celebration of him – his body and his blood). The early church decided to "conquer" two pagan times – in the winter and in the spring – by wining these times for Christ, the gospel, and the kingdom. This has been accomplished. There is nothing pagan about the way Christians celebrate Christmas and Easter. Pagans, by definition, are those who do not worship the one true triune God. Pagans believe that there are more than one God – some think that there are two Gods right now, and in the future the destiny of humans is to become God. That is paganism, for pagans believe that there is more than one god. Check the first commandment again. Check the history of the Jews in the Old Testament – they were always in trouble for idolatry.

Some of the people today who trash Christmas and Easter as pagan are polytheists, which according to the definition of paganism, makes them pagan. We must be careful in casting stones (Jesus had something to say about that topic).

Christmas can become, and is for many, commercial, materialistic, self-centered, and a time of excess. Christians around the world insist that Jesus is the reason for the season. Some tell Christians that no one knows when Jesus was born (your third question) and therefore Christmas should not be celebrated.

Jesus was born – and he was born on one of what we know now as 365 days of the year. Virtually all Christians who have looked at this subject know that no one knows when Jesus was born, and that there is a possibility that he was not born in latter December (however, there are good arguments that he might have been). But the issue is a straw man. When Jesus was born is not the issue – that he was, and that the second Person of the triune God came to us, as God in the flesh, to save us from sin, is the issue. The celebration of the birth of Christ is much more than an exact calendar computation.

If worshipping God is a matter of exact and precise calendar computation, then astrologers, astronomers, and Druids have a better chance of authentic worship than do Christians. But once again, there are a number of passages in the New Testament that warn against such an approach.

If you would like to know more, we have other questions and answers on the website that speak to these issues – www.PTM.org – Click on "Ask Greg" – then Click on "View Q and A", then Click on subjects like "Sabbath and other commandments" and "Holidays."

Hope this helps, Tom – may God be with and bless you. Let us know if we can serve you in some other way.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht