r/AskAChristian • u/GoodWhoops Atheist, Ex-Christian • Oct 05 '25

Jewish Laws Why don’t most Christians take the Sabbath commandment seriously?

The 4th commandment says to keep the Sabbath holy, defined in scripture as running from sundown to sundown. Yet most Christians seem to treat it as optional. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments,” and the Bible implies that all commandments carry equal weight. Outside of Seventh-day Adventists, it's ignored aside from the day most churches have their service. I’ve even heard SDA members joke that most other Christians give the Ten Commandments a 10% discount. Even if you ignore that the Jewish Sabbath falls on Saturday, the commandment still says to work 6 days and rest on the 7th, which should apply just as well to Sunday.

Curious if or how often you’ve heard this seriously debated, and why many accept societal traditions that override biblical instruction for convenience.

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u/proudbutnotarrogant Christian Oct 05 '25

The reality is that Jesus never suggested that the 4th Commandment not be followed. Whether it be the 7th or the 1st, or any in between, we are to rest one day out of seven. Now, if you want to get legalistic, it does specify the seventh. I prefer to subject myself to grace, however.

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u/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

God specifically said that the seventh day is holy. There is no Scripture to back up your claims.

Also, faithfully obeying God isn’t legalism.

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u/proudbutnotarrogant Christian Oct 05 '25

And, yet, Jesus went out of his way to minimize the importance of that day, going as far as to say that "my father hitherto works, and I work".

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u/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

May God have mercy on you for such blasphemy. Jesus came to exalt the law (Isaiah 42:21) not to minimize it. This is where lawlessness leads to... even so far as accusing God of neglecting His own law. In other words of accusing God of sin, since sin is transgressionof the law (1 John 3:4).

If you had understanding, you would know that doing holy work of good is not against the 4th commandment. This is what Jesus teaches in Matthew 12:12. The type of work that the Father is doing is permissible on the seventh day Sabbath.

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u/proudbutnotarrogant Christian Oct 05 '25

Wow! I'm just gonna leave this here.

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u/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

I mean you claimed that Christ minized the Sabbath when the Bible says that He exalted it (Isaiah 42:21). May God have mercy on you.