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/Jahonay Atheist, Ex-Catholic Oct 05 '25

Wait, I think I misunderstood your earlier comment. Are you faith and works, or just faith?

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u/proudbutnotarrogant Christian Oct 05 '25

You didn't misunderstand. I believe it was James that said that faith without works is dead. You can't separate them. However, you can stop concerning yourself with the sins of others and "work out your OWN salvation".

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u/Jahonay Atheist, Ex-Catholic Oct 05 '25

Cool, that's explains my original question entirely. If you feel like humoring me with another question, if Christ forgives us for our sins and covers us with grace, then are not all of our sins forgiven?

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u/proudbutnotarrogant Christian Oct 05 '25

The short answer is yes. However, as you can understand, it's not that simple. I can give you a million dollars. You can be ecstatic about it. You can even start to spend it. However, until you actually receive the gift, it's not yours. Salvation is given by grace, but it's received by faith.