Keep the Sabbath Holy

This is a Bible study on Keep the Sabbath Holy.      Click here for a printable Bible Study Guide.

The fourth commandment of the ten commandments is "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy".

• What is Sabbath?

• What is the purpose of GOD's laws?

• Which day is the sabbath?

• Why did GOD give us a day of rest?

• What are we to remember on the sabbath?

• Why are there arguments over GOD's sabbath?

• Did GOD rest on the seventh day?

• Can I work on the sabbath?

Sabbath means "rest" and "to cease".

Sabbath does not mean Saturday, or Sunday, it is not any "day" of the week.

The Sabbath day means the rest day, or day of rest.  Rest from work, and more importantly, rest in God through Christ Jesus.

As with all of God's commandments and God's law, we must understand God's purpose of them.

The purpose of God's law is to bring you to the truth of God - which is to expose sin in your life, so that you can know that you need God, His God's forgiveness, and His salvation.

The purpose of God's law is to give you instruction from God Himself as to how He desires you to live, and to know His will for your life.

The purpose of God's law is to show you the love that God has for you, by caring so much for you, that He would give you His law.

Above all, the purpose of God's law is to bring you to God, to receive His salvation, and by His grace through faith to salvation, be able to live with Him for all eternity.

God's law is for you, written down for you, so that you will understand and know the love of God, understand and know the will of God, and so that you can live with God forever.

God's law is given to you to point you and guide you in the right direction to God.

Because God loved us so much, He gave us His law so that we would know what He desires from us, and that we would know His will.

We must be careful to understand God's law and not to fall into the sin of judgment, self pride, or hatred, while we follow His law.

God is Judge

The purpose of God's law is not for us to judge others, but so that we can examine our own lives.  We are to examine our own selves (not others) whether we are in the faith, proving our own selves (2 Corinthians 13:5). 

God's law was NOT given to us so that we could prove that others were in the faith, but to prove that our own selves are in the faith.

God gave us His written word and His laws to judge ourselves, not others. 

God's law does NOT give you any right to judge others.  God is Judge Himself (Psalm 50:6).  If we could remember this one truth of God, that God alone is Judge, then there would be less strife in this world.  We are NOT to judge others of their sins. 

You are NOT to judge others of their sins, but you are to judge yourself.  God gave us the right to prove ourselves in the faith, but not others.

God is the judge of His law, not us.  There is one lawgiver - God - who is able to save and to destroy.  Who are we to judge one another? (James 4:12).  God is judge, not man.

God's law was given to us, to show us our own sins; and, that by acknowledging our own sins, we could seek God's forgiveness and His salvation.  God's law was given to reveal our own sins, not so that we could point out the sins of others.

God wants us to see our own sins, confess our own sins, repent of our own sins, and seek His forgiveness of our own sins.  We should be concerned with our own sins, and not be obsessed with the sins of others.

God gave us His laws so that we can see our own sins, not the sins of others.  If you are judging others, then you are sinning against God.  Do not use the commandments of God as an excuse for your sin.

Yes, it is human nature for us to see other people's faults, instead of our own, but this fact does not condone our judgment of others; because, God tells us in His word, that we are to remove the plank from our own eye, before we take the splinter out of another's (Matthew 7:5).  While we are condemning others of their sins, we lose sight of our own sins.  Who is without sin? No one (Ecclesiastes 7:20).  Our sin can be repented of and forgiven, but all men are born with sin, therefore no one is without sin.

We are to be careful not to judge others for their sins, or to compare our sins with their sins.  Sin is sin.  All sin is sin.  Who is the greater sinner, is not our concern.  God alone is the judge of sin.  God's ways are not our ways, and His ways are past finding out (Romans 11:33).  God sees sin differently than mankind, because God alone is Holy and without sin.  We do good to remember that God tells us that breaking one of His commandments is breaking them all.  A liar and a murder are the same sinner in the eyes of God.  God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

If you are judging others, as to how they do and do not abide by God's law, then you are judging others and you are committing sin against God.  God never condones sin, for any reason.

Judgment belongs to the Lord God, not us.

Pride

The purpose of God's law is to show us our sins and show us our need for God and His salvation through His mercy and grace.

No human being is without sin in this world.  God's law shows man his sin.  Through God's law we know it is wrong to have any other gods before God, because God is the one true living God of salvation and there is none else.  Through God's law we know it is sin to use, own, desire, have, worship idols, statues, or any graven image of anything or anyone.  Through God's law we know it is sin to bow down to any idols, statues, or any graven images of anything or anyone.  Through God's law we know it is sin to take the name of the LORD our God in vain, blaspheme or curse using His Holy name.  Through God's law we know that we are to remember the Sabbath of the LORD our God.  Through God's law we know that we are to honor and respect our earthly father and mother.  Through God's law we know that we are not to kill another human being.  Through God's law we know it is sin to commit adultery, both physically and through lust in our minds.  Through God's law we know we are not to steal.  Through God's law we know it is a sin to lie.  Through God's law we know that we are not to desire anything that does not belong to us.  Through God's law we understand that all unrighteousness is sin.  Through God's law we know that everyone will one day be judged by God Himself and receive their just reward.  Through God's law we know that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our strength, with all our being, and we are to love one another.

The purpose of God's law is to reveal our sin to us.  Without our acknowledgement of our sins, we have no need for God. 

By God revealing our sins to us, and our repentance of our sins and receiving salvation, God saves us from death, because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

We need God and this need is revealed to us by His law, because God's laws shows us our sin.

The purpose of God's law is not to give us self-pride, in what we can do and how we can keep God's law better than others, but to show us our short comings, our sins and how much we need God.

God does not like you better than your neighbor because you keep His law, because God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).  God sees your unrepentant sins, just as much as He sees your neighbors' sins.  God does not keep a score card, and you shouldn't either.

Your reward in heaven will be for your genuine, honest, unselfish good deeds and good works, not because you kept God's law for the purpose of His recognition or blessings. 

God is all knowing.  Nothing is hidden from God.  God knows what is in our hearts.  God knows why we do, what we do, and whether it is for His Glory, or for our own glory.

We are to do all things to the Glory of God, and not for the glory of ourselves (1 Corinthians 10:31).

If you are full of self-pride because you keep God's law and others don't, then you are committing sin against God, the sin of pride.  God never condones self-pride for any reason.  We are not to be puffed up with self-pride, but we are to humble ourselves to God (James 4:10).

God tells us in His Word, that the prideful do not seek God and God is not in their thoughts (Psalm 10:4).  Sin separates anyone from God.  Pride lifts you up, instead of you lifting up God.  Nothing or no one, especially ourselves, is to be placed above, or higher than God. 

The devil deceives man and tempts him into self-pride, because pride hardens the hearts of man against God (1 Timothy 3:6).  God says that pride is wicked, evil, and defiles man (Mark 7:22-23).  Self-pride is NOT of God the Father, but is of the world and of satan (1 John 2:16).

Self-pride, as with all sin, is bondage to satan.  Pride chains us to sin and all sin binds us to satan (Psalm 73:6).  The Holy Scriptures show us that "pride goes before destruction" (Proverbs 16:18).  Don't let pride destroy you.

We are never to have a prideful spirit, but we are to have a humble spirit (Proverbs 29:23).

Our fearful respect and love for our Lord God will keep us from the sin of pride (Proverbs 8:13).

Hatred

We are NOT to hate other people because they do not keep God's laws.

If you are full of hatred toward other people, because they do not keep God's law to your standards, then you are committing sin against God, because you are hating. 

God never condones hatred toward others, for any reason.

God is love.  All God's laws are because of God's love toward all mankind, not just a select few.

Hatred is serious sin with God.  God calls hatred murder, and those who hate a murderer (1 John 3:15). 

Hatred is the works of the flesh and God says that those who do such things shall NOT inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-20).

Hatred is never excused by God for any reason.  We are to love as God loves, all people, even our enemies.

God has promised to deal with our enemies and those who hurt us.  We are not to take vengeance on any of our enemies, because vengeance belongs to God alone (Romans 12:19).

God is love.  God tells us that those who hate do not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8). 

If we are of God, then we will share God's love toward all people, even our enemies (1 John 4:16).

We are all born seeking love, God's love.  Not all of us find God's love early in our lives.  Not all of us receive God's love and His salvation.  We must understand that there is a world of people out there without God's love.  Many who have not been shown God's love, but shown hatred all their lives.  Sadly, many people have lived with hatred, and hateful people, all their lives.

God can work His miracle of love in the most hating and hardened heart.  No one who is breathing is beyond the reach of God's love and His salvation.

We are to be grieved over those who do not keep God's word, but never to hate people for not keeping God's word.  We are to love and pray for those who choose their own path instead of God's path (Psalm 119:158).

We must shine the light of Christ through us, and His love to this hateful, hurting world, that by seeing our love for God and joy, they might ask us what is the reason of our hope, and we can share with them the love of our Lord and His salvation.

We must earnestly and diligently pray for the haters in this world, those who are lost in satan's sea of deceit and hatred, and we must pray that they will hear the Spirit of God, and receive the love of God and His salvation, before they die and are lost forever.

Hatred is a choice.  Love is a choice.  We must choose to love, over hate.  We must choose God's ways over our ways.  We must choose to follow God's will, not our wills.

We must love on purpose.  We must make up our mind to love all people, as God loves us.

Emotions and feelings

It is most important to understand the difference between emotions and obedience.  We are to obey God's laws all the days of our lives, even when we do not feel like it. 

Don't let your feelings get in the way of following God's law.  Most of the time I do feel like obeying God, but not always.  Every person has off days.

God never promised that we would always feel like abiding by His law.  We don't have to feel like obeying God, but we must obey God anyway. 

We don't have to feel like loving others, but God commanded us to love one another.  We love one another, not because we have to, but because we love God, because God desires that we love others, because loving others pleases our Lord.  Feeling like doing something is not obedience.  Obedience is doing something whether or not we feel like doing it.

Obedience is NOT feelings.  Obedience is beyond feelings and emotions.  We do not have to feel like obeying God, in order to obey God.  Many times we obey God, in spite of our feelings.  As children of the most High God, we are to allow God to guide us, not our emotions.  God guides us.  God is our strength and fortress, not feelings and emotions.  We are to place our trust and faith in God, not our emotions or feelings.

Stand guard against sin

Judgment, self-pride, hatred are sins we all must stand guard against.  No person on this earth is exempt from sin.  Just because we are saved, does not mean that we are immune from sin.  When we see these sins creeping into our daily lives, we must acknowledge them, confess them and repent of these sins and ask God to forgive our sins.

By loving God every day and by committing our lives to God every day through obedience to Him, we submit ourselves to God.  God promises that, if we submit ourselves to Him and if we resist the temptations of the devil, that the devil will have to flee from us.

As we see in this scripture, we are to submit to God and resist the devil, this tells us that our participation is required by God.  God is not dependent on us, but we are dependent on God.  Through our obedience to God, we are granted protection and deliverance from evil by God.

God gave us all free will to choose His love and to choose His salvation.  Every day we must choose to follow Christ (Luke 9:23).  Every day we must choose to follow God's law.  Every day we must choose to live by faith (Romans 1:17).  Every day we must submit ourselves to God (James 4:7).  Every day we must resist and say no to the temptations presented to us by satan (James 4:7).

God wants us to participate in our salvation every day, hold fast to the faith, be active in the fight for faith and truth, and to work out our salvation all the way to Glory, living our lives under His leadership and under His guidance, help and love (Philippians 2:12).

I love God's law

As the children of God, we love God, we love everything about God, and we love everything that God has chosen to give to us.

Through God's love we are gifted with His salvation, and we are gifted His law.  By God's grace we are allowed to chose God's gift of salvation and choose to live by God's law.  We are to delight in the salvation so graciously given to us and delight in God's law that He so lovingly gave to us.

God's law is wonderful and beautiful, designed and created in love by love - God's love - for you and for me, and for all the world.

Loving God today is loving God and all things that pertain to God, especially His law.

I love God's law, I love them exceedingly!  God's law is my delight!

When we set our minds and our hearts on God, when we truly love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our strength, with all our soul, we can love God and love all things of God, including His law.

It is most important to remember that ALL days belong to the LORD God.  Every day of every year belongs to God. 

We are to recognize and reference God above all things, including certain days of our week.  God is above all things, including the Sabbath day. 

God does not want people to worship any day, but God wants us to worship Him.  We must not lose sight of the Creator, our Lord God Jehovah, when we look to His laws.

If we remember what Sabbath means - which is "rest" - our question is rephrased to, which day is the day of rest?

We are to "remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy".  The scriptures say "keep it holy", not that the day is holy, there is a difference.

Through the Scriptures we know that a certain "day" cannot make anyone holy or righteous.  We are made holy only through salvation, received from God alone.

Holiness and righteousness come from God alone, not from participation or observance of any "day" or manmade tradition.

Be very careful dealing with the things of God, if you are defending a certain day as holy and not defending the Creator of that day.  Why are you defending a certain day, when you should be glorifying God and bringing others to God?

Believing in a "certain day" has never saved anyone and will never save anyone, because only through belief and faith in God alone is anyone saved (Ephesians 2:8).

We are all saved the exact same way.  We are saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  Not by works of any kind, and not by observance of any particular day (Titus 3:5).

We must be very careful that we do not worship any "day", but worship the God of that day.  The name of our LORD GOD is to be remembered and worshiped, not any day that He created.

The name of God is to be remembered, not a day of the week that God rested.

We are not to place anything above God, this includes any special day, this especially includes the Sabbath day.  We must be very careful, because placing anything before God is idolatry, even the Sabbath. 

Idolatry is not tolerated by God and anyone participating in idolatry forfeits their inheritance into the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).

We must not lose sight of the reason for the "day of rest".  God didn't set aside the actual day as holy, but because that in it he had rested from all His work.  God's rest was Holy, as God is Holy, not the day, because "in it He had rested".

The day, Saturday or Sunday or any day of the week, when we choose to rest in God, is not Holy, but God is Holy. 

God blessed and sanctified it - the day that He rested - because in that day He had rested from all His work, which He created and made.

Back to the question - Which day should we rest?  We should rest every day in God through Christ Jesus. 

Yes, we should do as God commands and set aside from our work week "a day of rest in God", but we shouldn't wait for a particular "day" to seek and find rest in God. 

We can rest in God every day, and should find time out of our busy schedules to take the time to be with our Lord God in rest, not hurried, not a quick rushed prayer, but rest in the Lord.

Your God has given you rest - take it!  (Joseph 1:13) 

Our righteousness is not based on any day of the week, but our righteousness is based on the saving grace of our Lord God Jehovah Almighty, the One True Living God, the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, our Bright and Morning Star, our Mighty Saviour God and King!

We should know that our salvation, our sanctification, our righteousness, our holiness is not based on what day we observe to rest in God, but is based on the living sacrifice of the Son of God, Christ Jesus.  His sacrifice, his death and his resurrection grants us reconciliation with God so that we can rest in Him.

Isn't it just like satan to place inside the hearts of men the desire to observe and reverence a particular day instead of God, taking the focus off of God and placing it in a day of the week.

Don't let the devil steal your joy from you.  Don't let the devil replace your faith in God with faith in a day.  Don't worship any day of the week, but worship and reverence the Creator of all the days, our Heavenly Father Lord God.

God gave us a day to rest in Him

The main purpose of remembering the Sabbath, is to restore and renew our spirit in God, to rest in God through Christ Jesus.  By resting in God we can recharge and renew our faith in God.

Salvation is not one single day in our life, but a lifetime of living in faith.  Salvation takes our whole lifetime, takes all the days of our lives to complete.

Salvation is a lifetime journey to God by walking in faith every day, by loving God every day, by resting in Him every day.

God gave us a day of rest to remember the works of God

Remembering the Sabbath is remembering all the works of God. 

Not only His works of creation, but all His works.  His works of salvation and regeneration, allowing us to come to Him through His Son, Christ Jesus.

God gave us a day of rest to restore and recharge our human bodies.

God created us and knows us better than we know ourselves.

God knows each of us inside and out (Psalm 103:14).  God knows how our human bodies function because He created us:  every cell, every organ, every vessel, every bone, and every part. 

God knows that our human bodies require rest to function properly.  Rest refuels our mind and our bodies.

Without resting, eventually our bodies will shut down, cease to function.  Human beings are unable to function, without rest.

Why are there so many arguments over God's Sabbath?

God's Sabbath

Whose Sabbath is it?  People lose sight over the fact that it is God's Sabbath, not theirs. 

People get defensive and prideful and defend "their day" of worship.  The Sabbath day is God's day of rest, not theirs.    God said we are to remember His Sabbath, the day He rested from creating the world, and to keep it holy.

People believe the Sabbath is a certain day.  Some people say it is Saturday, and some people say it is Sunday, or another day. 

What many people forget is that the Sabbath is God's day.  As with all days, the Sabbath day belongs to God.  God alone owns the Sabbath day, and every other day.  

We don't own the Sabbath day, although a lot of people want to own it, idolize it, covet it, and argue about it.

The devil loves strife

There has been far too many debates, arguments, strife, anger, and confusion regarding "the Sabbath", all which have nothing to do with God.

God never intended people to commit sin through strife, anger, pride, judgment, and arguments over His Sabbath.

Sinning to prove your point is still sinning.

God is the God of peace, not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).  God does not initiate or condone strife, anger, pride, and division among His people.

Arguments over God's truth is not of God, don't take part in it.  Do not be seduced into arguments over God's Sabbath, or any of God's commandments.  Do not be deceived into believing you know more than God.

Some people may say, "but I know that the Sabbath day is Saturday".  Do you really?   Where you there? No, you weren't.

I do know who was there, God was there.  God didn't call it Saturday or Sunday, God called it the day of His rest.  

Do not be deceived into believing you know as much as God, satan did this and we know what happened to him, he was eternally banished from the kingdom of God.

Satan knows if he gets people riled up, heated with anger, he wins because he has turned them from God to sin.  Don't fall for this old trick.  The devil has been using this trap, getting people to sin against God by strife over God's commandments, since God gave them to people.

Ignorance

If we can remember what the Sabbath day means to God, we would have no more arguments over His day.

The Sabbath means to cease, to rest.  The Sabbath day does NOT mean Saturday, or Sunday, or any day of the week.

We can remember God's Sabbath day by resting in God.

The reason why God had the Sabbath day was because He had finished His creation work of the world.  God had Sabbath, God had rest after He had finished His creation work.  The rest day was to reflect on all He had made, to glory in all the things He had made, to absorb rest, to give rest, to love, to give love and to get love from all He had made.

Our Sabbath day is to remember all the works of God, and to keep it holy by resting in God.

Special Note:  Take care that you do not commit sin when defending the gospel of God.  God does not permit sin under any circumstances.  We are to love one another above all else, at all costs, especially when we are defending the faith.   Love yields, love is not proud, love does not have to have its own way.   Vengeance belongs to God.  Being right belongs to God, not us.   We must yield to love above all. 

Remember the Sabbath day, remember God's Sabbath, and to keep God's Sabbath holy.

We are to remember the days when God created all things at the beginning.  We are to remember that day He rested, after creating all things.

We are to remember all the works of God.

Yes, God did cease His work of creation, and rested on the seventh day, but we should never lose sight, or diminish what God did on the previous six days.

On the first day God created the heaven, the earth, and day and night (Genesis 1:1-5).

On the second day God created the seas, tides, and the sky (Genesis 1:6-8).

On the third day God divided the land from the sea, created grass, herbs with seed, and fruit trees (Genesis 1:9-13).

On the forth day God created stars, moons, and the sun (Genesis 1:14-19).

On the fifth day God created water creatures, fish, whales, and winged creatures of the air (Genesis 1:20-22).

On the sixth day God created land creatures, cattle, creeping things, and man in His own image (Genesis 1:23-31).

On the seventh day God ended His work and He rested (Genesis 2:1-3).

 

The miracle of life, and all things that we know of, were created by the hand, by the word, and by the breath of our Lord God, during those six days of His creation.

These works of God are to be remembered, cherished and fearfully reverenced for the awesome miracles that they are. We are to praise God and thank Him for His wonderful gifts of creation, life and beauty.

Many people will still state that since God rested on the seventh day, that the Sabbath day is Saturday.  Again, the Sabbath day is means to rest and cease from work, not a particular day.  You need to look past the physical day of the week, and look at God.   God is the reason for rest, not the name of the day of the week.

God rested on His seventh day, not ours.

God rested on the seventh day of His creations of all beginning things which He had made.  The seventh day should not be the focus here, God is the reason we can have rest, we can have peace.  The seventh day does not give us rest, God gives us rest.

Our hope, our trust is not in the seventh day.  Our hope, our trust, our love is placed in God alone.

God blessed His seventh day.

God blessed that seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.

That day God rested was blessed because in that day He had rested from all His work.

God wants us to remember His Sabbath Day, His rest day, the day He rested because in that day He rested from all His work which God created and made.

We are to remember the works of God, not our works.  We are to remember that God is the Creator of all things.  Remember all His marvellous works.  Remember all He has made and given to us.

We are to remember who God is, that He is the LORD God Almighty.  We are to remember God and the works of God.

God didn't tell us to remember our seventh day, or remember our works.  We are to remember the Sabbath day, His seventh day, His day of rest when He completed the works of creation, and to keep it - His seventh day - holy.

God never said our seventh day is holy, or any seventh day is holy.   God said to keep it holy - keep His rest day holy.  Keep it holy and it is holy are two separate things. 

God is Holy, not a day of the week.  God said to keep it holy, to keep His seventh day holy.  We keep His seventh day holy by remembering it, thanking God for it, by taking a day out in our week to rest in God on purpose. 

On purpose ceasing to work and seeking to rest in God, this is how we remember His Sabbath day and keep His Sabbath day holy.

Yes, you can work on the Sabbath.  Remember God said to remember the sabbath day - His Sabbath day - and keep it holy - Keep His day holy.

Should you work on the Lord's day?  Not unless you must.   Many people must work on the Lord's day.  Policemen, firemen, doctors, nurses, hospital staff, emergency centers, airlines, utility workers, transportation workers, the list goes on and on.  Many services are 24/7, 365 days a week.

Well, what about the Old Testament laws regarding working on the Sabbath?

We learn in the New Testament that Christ Jesus fulfilled the law, through His death and resurrection.

Love the Lord thy God and keep his commandments.

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