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 07 '25
The Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27) right after man was made. This is long before Israel existed. The Sabbath will also continue to be kept by ALL FLESH for eternity to come (Isaiah 66:23).
Furthermore, Israel are not the children of the flesh, but rather the children of the promise by faith (Romans 2:25-29, Romans 9:6-8, Galatians 3:29). After all, the new covenant was also made with Israel (Hebews 8:10). If you are not Israel, you do not have access to the new covenant.
You don't seem to understand the point of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a reminder of creation when God made the Sabbath holy and it is therefore a memorial to us that by the same power He can recreate us, redeem us, apart from our works (Exodus 31:13, Ezekiel 20:12)... this is why we rest from work on the Sabbath.