What will happen to Christians who reject the Sabbath?

[Pancho Frijoles]

Okay, I agree if you define "worship" as treating holy things as sacred.

Any thoughts on what it means to "remember" the Sabbath day? What is it specifically that I am to remember? I have some ideas but I would love to hear yours.

That God is the Creator.
It is impossible to remember that God "rested", without remembering that He rested from doing something.
So, Sabbath keeping was a remembrance of God specifically as Creator, which is one of the first and most important attributes of God known to man... which takes us back to the concept of "worshipping".

God bless you, my friend.
I will stop for now. I'll call it a day.

 

[JohnDB]

I was asked the question on another forum, "What will happen to all those Christians who don't worship on the Sabbath?" I gave the following answer... there are some verses that give a clear answer. Here is what best applies....
Acts 17:24-30
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

When we unknowingly make a honest mistake, Gods grace is sufficient and He winks at our ignorance. But when we in all fullness of understanding knowingly do it.......

However,
There is a difference between ignorance and an understanding of a different theology concerning THE Sabbath. Meaning that the Sabbath has come and gone and a New Covenant has come into existence....a better Covenant than ever before that is impossible to find a loophole and skate through. Which is what we believe the Sabbath is all about....the ending of the Old Covenant and installation of the New.

Which provides an argument to say that SDA have absolutely rejected the New Covenant and do an extremely poor job at following the Old Covenant.

Just saying....

So that perhaps you can find the grace in your heart to actually have a REASONABLE CONVERSATION about what you believe and why.
Which isn't much different from the Catholic theology and argument of transubstantiation or the 6 day creationists who say that God created the Earth in 6 24hour days and the Earth is much younger than most every scientist say that it is.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

This is a home-made classification of Sabbath-keepers of my own invention.
It has no validation whatsoever and I admit it is a crude oversimplification of the wide spectrum of Sabbath-keepers. I apologize in advance for any unintended offense. Only God can know the spiritual circumstance of each individual.
The table shows 16 types of Sabbath-keepers. In green, I have indicated those who would be in line with God's will regarding this practice. In red, those who would not. In black, those I couldn't tell.

A. Do not despise conscious Sunday-keepers as disobedient

A1. Very limited knowledge of theology / history​

A 1.1 Keep Sabbath out of love and the spiritual benefits perceived​

A 1.2 Keep Sabath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit into a welcoming group, to ally with people they love, etc)​

​

A2. Know enough theology/history as to sincerely believe that their practice has Scriptural/rational support, but not enough theology/history as to realize its pitfalls.​

A 2.1 Keep Sabbath out of love and the spiritual benefits perceived​

A 2.2 Keep Sabbath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit in, to ally with people they love, etc)​

A 2.3 Keep Sabbath for purely theological reasons​

​

A3. Know enough theology as to realize they lack Scriptural/rational support​

A 3.1 Continue to keep Sabbath out of spiritual benefits, that they suppose would be lost if they change their practice​

A 3.2 Continue to keep Sabbath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit in, to ally with people they love, etc)​

A 3.3 Continue to keep Sabbath for material benefits (eg, salary) or out of arrogance ​

​

B. Despise conscious Sunday-keepers as disobedient

B1. Very limited knowledge of theology/ history​

B 1.1 Keep Sabbath because the spiritual benefits perceived and that they suppose Sunday-keepers don't get​

B 1.2 Keep Sabath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit into a welcoming group, to ally with people they love, etc)​

​

B2. Know enough theology/history as to sincerely believe that their practice has Scriptural/rational support, but not enough theology/history as to realize its pitfalls.​

B 2.1 Keep Sabbath because the spiritual benefits perceived and that they suppose Sunday-keepers don't get​

B 2.2 Keep Sabbath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit in, to ally with people they love, etc)​

B 2.3 Keep Sabbath for purely theological reasons​

​

B3. Know enough theology as to realize they lack Scriptural/rational support​

B 3.1 Continue to keep Sabbath because the spiritual benefits perceived, that suppose would be lost if they change their practice​

B 3.2 Continue to keep Sabbath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit in, to ally with people they love, etc)​

B 3.3 Continue to keep Sabbath for material benefits (eg, salary) or out of arrogance​

ing group, to ally with people they love, etc)​

​

 

[BarneyFife]

This is a home-made classification of Sabbath-keepers of my own invention.
It has no validation whatsoever and I admit it is a crude oversimplification of the wide spectrum of Sabbath-keepers. I apologize in advance for any unintended offense. Only God can know the spiritual circumstance of each individual.
The table shows 16 types of Sabbath-keepers. In green, I have indicated those who would be in line with God's will regarding this practice. In red, those who would not. In black, those I couldn't tell.

A. Do not despise conscious Sunday-keepers as disobedient

A1. Very limited knowledge of theology / history​

A 1.1 Keep Sabbath out of love and the spiritual benefits perceived​

A 1.2 Keep Sabath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit into a welcoming group, to ally with people they love, etc)​

​

A2. Know enough theology/history as to sincerely believe that their practice has Scriptural/rational support, but not enough theology/history as to realize its pitfalls.​

A 2.1 Keep Sabbath out of love and the spiritual benefits perceived​

A 2.2 Keep Sabbath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit in, to ally with people they love, etc)​

A 2.3 Keep Sabbath for purely theological reasons​

​

A3. Know enough theology as to realize they lack Scriptural/rational support​

A 3.1 Continue to keep Sabbath out of spiritual benefits, that they suppose would be lost if they change their practice​

A 3.2 Continue to keep Sabbath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit in, to ally with people they love, etc)​

A 3.3 Continue to keep Sabbath for material benefits (eg, salary) or out of arrogance ​

​

B. Despise conscious Sunday-keepers as disobedient

B1. Very limited knowledge of theology/ history​

B 1.1 Keep Sabbath because the spiritual benefits perceived and that they suppose Sunday-keepers don't get​

B 1.2 Keep Sabath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit into a welcoming group, to ally with people they love, etc)​

​

B2. Know enough theology/history as to sincerely believe that their practice has Scriptural/rational support, but not enough theology/history as to realize its pitfalls.​

B 2.1 Keep Sabbath because the spiritual benefits perceived and that they suppose Sunday-keepers don't get​

B 2.2 Keep Sabbath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit in, to ally with people they love, etc)​

B 2.3 Keep Sabbath for purely theological reasons​

​

B3. Know enough theology as to realize they lack Scriptural/rational support​

B 3.1 Continue to keep Sabbath because the spiritual benefits perceived, that suppose would be lost if they change their practice​

B 3.2 Continue to keep Sabbath because of social reasons (eg cultural identity, to fit in, to ally with people they love, etc)​

B 3.3 Continue to keep Sabbath for material benefits (eg, salary) or out of arrogance​

ing group, to ally with people they love, etc)​

​

Seems like a useful guide for folks who are inclined to judge Sabbath-keepers.

I wonder how well such a guide for the purpose of judging Sabbath-decliners/objectors would be received.

.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

Hi @BarneyFife

Yours was a great observation. Thank you for that.
This is my try of a homemade classification of Sunday keepers. Again, it has no validation whatsoever and represent my own and limited understanding.
In this case, I recognized only 5 categories. Again, I have highlighted in green those I believe are in line with God's will, in red those I believe are not, and in black those I can't tell.

A. Do not despise conscious Sabbath-keepers as fallen from grace

A1. Intuitively know that they are not fallen from grace, without needing or looking for any scriptural/rational support.​

A2. Intuitively and theologically know they are not fallen from grace​

​

B. Despise conscious Sabbath-keepers as fallen from grace

B1. Intuitively know that are not fallen from grace, but since they regard themselves as not interested/not knowledgable in theology, just try to comply with the view of their pastor/congregation ​

B2. Intuitively know that are not fallen from grace, but are convinced of that on theological grounds​

B3. Realize, both intuitively and theologically, that are not fallen from grace, but preserve their attitude due to material benefits (eg salary) or arrogance​

​

​

 

[CadyandZoe]

That God is the Creator.
It is impossible to remember that God "rested", without remembering that He rested from doing something.
So, Sabbath keeping was a remembrance of God specifically as Creator, which is one of the first and most important attributes of God known to man... which takes us back to the concept of "worshipping".

God bless you, my friend.
I will stop for now. I'll call it a day.

I understand and see your point.

Should we also consider that God intends for us to remember a future day of rest? I understand this may seem unusual, as we typically commemorate a day that has already occurred. However, I am drawing inspiration from Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, where he mentions a future Sabbath rest.

Hebrews 4:8-11 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

It might be helpful to review the entire passage, but I have highlighted the key sentence: "Since there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, including both Jews and Christians, then remembering the Sabbath day might include at least a moment of anticipation, looking forward as well as back." Yes?

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

I understand and see your point.

Should we also consider that God intends for us to remember a future day of rest? I understand this may seem unusual, as we typically commemorate a day that has already occurred. However, I am drawing inspiration from Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, where he mentions a future Sabbath rest.

Hebrews 4:8-11 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

It might be helpful to review the entire passage, but I have highlighted the key sentence: "Since there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, including both Jews and Christians, then remembering the Sabbath day might include at least a moment of anticipation, looking forward as well as back." Yes?

Hi

Yes. Indeed, more than in the future, it is TODAY.
The call of the author of Hebrews is for us to go to Christ today and enter his rest.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Mat 11:28)
Once in Christ, whether we keep the Sabbath on the seventh day, or we keep it every day, or at any other day, is less important.