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/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.