Most people of faith learn that the Bible\u2019s Sabbath day is rooted in its first chapter. We could tell the world, if we would, that God made everything in six days, then ceased His creation work and blessed the seventh as part of His plan from the start (Genesis 2:1-3). The weekly Sabbath was a rest day for the God who never gets tired.<\/p>\n
Why did He rest, if not as an example for those created in His image? God invites us still to imitate Him in that rest. Many have, but they are few compared to those who see no need for God\u2019s rest \u2014 neither His eternal rest nor its weekly token.<\/p>\n
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First, the Bible Sabbath was a day of rest. Next, the example of Genesis 2 becomes the command of Exodus 20, and Sabbath becomes a day of law: \u201cRemember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy\u201d (v. 8).<\/p>\n
This fourth commandment uses many words, but its essence shortens to three: keep it holy<\/em>. They mean, set the seventh apart from other days. Whatever our work and business routines Sunday through Friday, Sabbath is the day to step up, to reset our affections above, to choose the more excellent things that glorify God, and to bless others in ways we couldn\u2019t or didn\u2019t earlier in the week.<\/p>\n Is Sabbath, then, mostly just a piece of the law, written on stones at Mount Sinai? Consider how God\u2019s rest day is honored, not downgraded, by its place on stone tablets. There it joins nine other words of immense value to people at all times and places: Put God first. Don\u2019t blaspheme His name. Honor your parents. Respect others\u2019 spouses, properties, lives, and reputations (vv. 2-17).<\/p>\n Its location in the moral law, therefore, is no discredit to the seventh day, but a feather in its weekly cap instead. To refuse Sabbath because it\u2019s in the Decalogue is to ignore God\u2019s purpose for His holy commandments in both old and new covenants (Deuteronomy 6:24, 25; Romans 7:7-12; Hebrews 8:8-12; 10:15-17).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Moving past Sabbath as primarily a day of rest and secondarily a day of law, we come to the pinnacle point and our climactic conviction about the seventh day: Sabbath is, ultimately, a day of grace! <\/em><\/p>\n This bold claim seems counterintuitive at first. After all, doesn\u2019t the new covenant insist that people are saved by God\u2019s grace through faith in Christ, not by law or the days they keep? Yes, that\u2019s true (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; 4:10, 11; Ephesians 2:8, 9). How, then, can we label Sabbath as a day of grace?<\/p>\n In claiming Sabbath as a day of grace, we\u2019re not<\/em> claiming Sabbath as the source of salvation; God\u2019s grace is its source. We\u2019re not<\/em> claiming Sabbath as the basis of salvation; Christ\u2019s death is its basis. We\u2019re certainly not claiming that salvation is received only when we start keeping Sabbath; the sinner\u2019s faith validates their salvation. And we\u2019re not claiming Sabbath as salvation\u2019s sign, God\u2019s identifying mark on His people; that\u2019s baptism and the Spirit\u2019s fruit of love. Rather, we\u2019re simply recognizing that Sabbath is linked with Christ\u2019s grace and new covenant salvation in at least three ways:<\/p>\n We have explored the Bible\u2019s truth that Sabbath is much more than a day of rest and of moral law, although it is both. Ultimately, Sabbath is a day of amazing grace in that the God of all grace and the Savior full of grace gave examples and words of its intended observance. In that, it accurately illustrates and previews God\u2019s unmerited eternal favor toward us in Christ.<\/p>\n This grace-focused view of Sabbath sets well with a Christ-following people of God who are saved by His grace for<\/em> good works, not by<\/em> them (Ephesians 2:8-10). The Bible\u2019s fifty-two days off each year remain available to all who recognize their need for God\u2019s rest and receive it by faith in Jesus, with love for all God\u2019s people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most people of faith learn that the Bible\u2019s Sabbath day is rooted in its first chapter. We could tell the world, if we would, that God made everything in six days, then ceased His creation work and blessed the seventh as part of His plan from the start (Genesis 2:1-3). The weekly Sabbath was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":287,"featured_media":4667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[233,184,573,139,112],"yoast_head":"\nPinnacle and climax<\/h2>\n
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Amazing grace<\/h2>\n