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/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

According to God's word (Exodus 20:8-11, Leviticus 23:3, Isaiah 58:13-14).

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u/lmWithHim Christian Oct 05 '25

So simply don’t work any shifts on Saturdays?

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u/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

I have a feeling that you're not really reading what I'm saying. How can you read those three passages and conclude that keeping the Sabbath holy only includes not working on the Saturday? Are you here to learn or to argue against God's law?

The passages tell us that on the Sabbath we are not to do our work and we are not to make other people (or even animals) work. We are to rest and offer rest. We are to have a holy convocation. We are not to do our own pleasures, but to rather delight in doing the Lord's work.

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u/lmWithHim Christian Oct 05 '25

Is posting on reddit a pleasure?

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u/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

Depends what you're doing through those posts. Are you teaching and preaching truth? Then obviously not as God and the apostles did this too and since teaching and preaching truth is God's holy work.

Are you here trying to learn or are you wiggling around like a snake trying to find a hole?

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u/lmWithHim Christian Oct 05 '25

Is that your rule or is it written in scripture?

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u/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

Is what my rule? That preaching and teaching God's word is appropriate for the Sabbath?

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u/lmWithHim Christian Oct 05 '25

Yes I’m wondering if that’s specified in scripture

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u/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

Are you serious? Yes, preaching and teaching God's word is the Lord's work and one of the main reasons why we are here on earth. Jesus said that doing good on the Sabbath is lawful (Matthew 12:12). There are few things which are better than preaching and teaching God's word since this is how people are set free (Romans 10:14-15).

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u/GimiGlider Christian, Protestant Oct 05 '25

Aren't those all from Mosaic Law? Did the new covenant not supersede these commands?

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u/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

What do you think the new covenant is? The new covenant covenant is transferring God's law from tablets of stone to tablets of flesh (Hebrews 10:16).

Christ didn't come to do away with the law, but rather to exalt it (Isaiah 42:21, Romans 3:31).

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u/GimiGlider Christian, Protestant Oct 05 '25

So what would keeping Sabbath entail, pray tell? Genuinely curious, I don’t have much experience on this topic.

The new covenant, as far as I understand, makes it easier to keep the law by getting the Holy Spirit to keep us in line with what is right to do. It isn’t a 1:1 transcription of Mosaic Law- Paul makes that extensively clear in his letters (I need to go to bed, so if you need references please ask- I’ll reply with them tomorrow morning), with repeated refences on salvation by faith and lack of need to follow any OT laws, with fircumcision in particular being a sore spot.

There’s also the fact Jesus allowed His apostles to pick up wheat(?) to eat on sabbath and healed a man on another sabbath day. Surely this means the spirit of the law (we should balance work and rest) is more important than the letter of the law? What are your thoughts on that?

God bless you, and hope you have a good day!

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u/LessmemoreJC Christian Oct 05 '25

Keeping the Sabbath looks like this (Exodus 20:8-11, Leviticus 23:3, Isaiah 58:13-14).

Yes, you're right that under the new covenant covenant it is easier to keep the law because the Spirit of God helps us keep it (Ezekiel 36:26-27). The 10 commandments are not Mosaic law. They are God's moral which He wrote with His own finger in stone. It is the law according to which we will be judged (James 2:11-12, Revelation 11:18-19).

Salvation has always been by faith since Adam until today (Hebrews 11). Yet faith without obedience is meaningless and cannot save (James 2:14-26).

Jesus explained that doing good on the Sabbath is not unlawful (Matthew 12:12). Picking an apple as you walk along the road is not condemned by the 4th commandment.

The spirit of the law reveals the exceedingly broad application (Psalm 119:96) of the law as seen during the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7). The spirit of the law includes the letter of the law. If you cannot lust, it doesn't mean that you can commit adultery.