I was doom-scrolling the other morning, having woken up far too early and with nothing better to do at that bitter hour. My feed, rather than giving me what I want to see, chose to show me a conversation between two people I've never met. One was saying the Sabbath is not included in the New Covenant. Another argued against this, and did it with these words:
"The Sabbath is not a fixed time period in time and space, rather it's a test of loyalty to see if we will respect the command of our Creator and honor Him as our sovereign."
I am puzzled by the part about "not a fixed period in time and space," because the two were talking about the weekly Sabbath. You know, the day, the seventh day specifically, from sundown on the sixth day to sundown on the seventh day ...which makes it exactly a fixed time period in time and space. (If he had said, "Jesus is the New Covenant Sabbath," then he'd have a point, but he didn't.)
Look, let's ignore that curiosity and just concentrate on that last part, "...it's a test of loyalty to see if we will respect the command of our Creator."
Have you heard something like that before? If you're at this blog (and you are currently reading this blog, I believe) then you likely have. You may have even said as much yourself. But is it so?
The quick answer is - no. It's a self-justification.
All laws are a "test", from a certain point of view. In that light, the Sabbath is a test, but not uniquely so. It's not like you need a 613th law just to see if you will keep the other 612. Talk about superfluous! No, I'm pretty sure it will be apparent all on its own if you're keeping each law or not. No additional tests necessary. Laws are not tests to see if you'll keep other laws. Laws can only do what they are worded to do, and no law in the Bible is worded that way. God didn't need a test law to see if people would obey the law. He knew they wouldn't. He gave Adam and Eve one command and they couldn't handle that much. Moses predicted they would fail. Bear in mind, if you break one, you've broken them all. It's a package deal. So, yet another law won't help you. It actually has the opposite effect.
But, in the interest of being thorough, let's turn to the verses in our Bibles where it describes the Sabbath as a special "test Commandment".
Aaand we're done.
For all the people who say, "I only believe what I read in my Bible," you may now confidently stop believing the Sabbath is a special test commandment. The Bible doesn't say it, the Jews never believed it, the Apostles never declared it, the early church scholars never wrote it, no "doctor of the church" ever expounded on it, and so we should reject it.
The Bible describes many tests - the forty years in the wilderness, manna for six days, hard questions, temptations, strange commands, even life itself (JER. 17: 10) - but never does it directly, literally say the laws are tests. Oh, they're gonna test! We know that, from a certain point of view, all laws are tests. But nothing specifically says so. And nothing says the Sabbath is a peculiar test. If the Sabbath were alone in being a test, then perhaps he would have a point here. But no. It's a drop in a comprehensive ocean of tests.
No, it wasn't given as a test. The reason laws were given is spelled out in Galatians 3: 19-24. The law was added 1) to guard Israel specifically until Messiah could come, and that was needed because of 2) sin in mankind's hearts. That was the purpose of the law. To guard and guide Israel on their mission, because of sinfulness in their nature. Who, us? No. Israel. God's chosen people after we, the Gentiles, rejected Him. God did not give the Sabbath to "us". He rejected us because we rejected Him first. He gave it to the Jews. We, the Gentiles, were excluded - by law. Until when, today? No. Until Messiah could come to bring in the New Covenant and call us back. (For more, read "Once And Future Kingdom".) God knew Israel would violate the law, but He gave them the law anyway as guardrails to ensure they would at least not go completely away from Him before they could reach the finish line. God put guardrails on Israel to guide them until Messiah could come. Messiah has already come! Mission accomplished. The rejection of the Gentiles is healed. That Old Covenant is now gone, ended at the cross, along with all its terms. No one is bound to the Old Covenant any longer.
As for the Sabbath day, it was given to make the Jews rest. That's what the word means. The rest was from their normally assigned duties (they weren't required to stop everything, it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath). The point was to make Israel take time out from the busy-ness and focus on God. That's not a "test" nearly as much as it is a mercy and plain common sense. God knew humans would not want to stop their busy-ness, just like a child who doesn't want to stop playing to go to the bathroom. So, yes, it did "test", so to speak. But to test wasn't the point. The point was spiritual health and refreshment. Testing is but a by-product.
So far, we've concentrated on the Sabbath as a test, but that wasn't all the guy said. He also said, "...to see if we will respect the command of our Creator and honor Him as our sovereign."
Do you see the manipulation in there? The part about the Sabbath being a test is just an excuse, a self-justification, but the bite is in the fear it's packaged with.
"God is your God, isn't He? You don't want to defy God, do you? You want God to be sovereign, don't you? You don't want to do what Satan did and play God, Do you? You want to do what God commanded, don't you? Hey! Here's a command! So, keep His commands so you can show Him He's your king."
Scary! Sounds almost reasonable, doesn't it? The manipulation must be highlighted.
The mistake here is the assumption that following the Old Covenant laws are how we remain obedient to God. That is simply not true.
The law was not given to "us". The Bible clearly says to whom the law was given, and it wasn't us. The Old Covenant law was given to Israel and Israel alone. Gentiles were excluded. By law! If the claim is the law is still in force, then so is the law that excludes Gentiles. We are not in that Covenant. No one is. That Covenant is gone. It had to go so the Gentiles could be brought in. The Covenant and its terms are inseparable. They are one. It is gone. Exactly like a marriage covenant is gone when one party dies. Dissolved when Jesus died to institute a New Covenant. (Most of the Gospels happen in the Old Covenant period.) The terms of the Old Covenant have not come forward into the New. That is not how contracts work. Terms (laws in this case) do not just jump from contract to contract on their own. The Old Covenant Sabbath does not gain special "test commandment" powers that magically transfer it to another Covenant. No. Being loyal to the New Covenant and its terms are how we remain obedient to God. Righteousness is a covenant word. Righteousness is a condition granted by being faithful to the Covenant you're in. Be faithful to the New Covenant and you will be counted righteous because of Jesus's own righteousness credited to you. If you want to obey God as your sovereign, then do what God commanded you to do, in the New Covenant, not what God commanded the Jews to do in the Old Covenant. The Sabbath is never laid out as a term in the New Covenant.
And that was Chap #1's point to begin with. If the New Covenant required it, we would be able to point to something concrete in the New Covenant. Of all the Ten Commandments, this one is never reiterated or given to the Gentiles in any way. So, when Chap #1 said, "the Sabbath is not included in the New Covenant," Chap #2 did not respond with a verse. He did not because he could not.
The mistake of swapping the Old Covenant in where the New Covenant should be comes from failure to read the Bible in light of the Christ event. I couldn't agree more with the God Cannot Be Contained blog. Once you take Jesus out of the center, out of the very focus of everything written in the Bible, not discerning who He really is and what His death really did, all bets are off. Clearly, Jesus is not the center of Sabbatarianism. The Sabbath has taken the focus away from Jesus. The SDA church isn't named "Christ's Adventists". Sabbatarians are not called "Christ-itarians". The Sabbath is maximized and Jesus is set aside. That is the opposite of respecting the command of our Creator. That is the opposite of honoring Him as our sovereign. The fear manipulation is meant to distract you from realizing by swapping Old Covenant law in, you are doing exactly what you hoped not to do!
The test line is an excuse to avoid having Jesus as the focus, and the fear it's packaged with is a fake. It's a shell game where you go to choose the New covenant but the Old is swapped in at the last second. The fear helps you to not notice. It's a deception. You are being manipulated.
It's a self-justification; an excuse. It's nothing other than the kind of thing a person says to support an otherwise unsupportable action they want to continue doing. The Bible didn't give this idea to us, it was forced into the Bible. This is a stock footage argument invented by Ellen White of the Seventh Day Adventism to justify their preoccupation with the Fourth Commandment. She invented this claim right at the turn of the 20th century.
The idea that, "We all need to keep the Sabbath because it's a test commandment," isn't even a good argument. No one was convinced to adopt Sabbatarianism because of this. You must already be a Sabbatarian for it to have any sway at all. But if you notice, it doesn't do that very well.
People can justify the most absurd things. We have a seemingly unlimited capacity to delude ourselves. There are forty five thousand denominations in "Christianity". You know there are people out there who have convinced themselves they are cats - and they even demand litter boxes be provided. It's no big shock that some people have deluded themselves into believing they are Old Covenant Israelites, demanding Sabbaths.
I will spare you the lengthy dissertation on how the Sabbath isn't being kept as commanded anyway. They say, "keep the Sabbath law like we do," but they aren't keeping it the way the law says to.
However, having said what I've said, there is nothing against having a "Sabbath day" in the New Covenant. It's not commanded, but it's not forbidden either. There are Jewish converts to Christianity, and they retain a Sabbath day. That's their right and their heritage. Nothing speaks against this. Most of Christendom considers the first day to be like a Sabbath. We still need to stop our busy-ness and focus on God, do we not? In fact, it can be quite beneficial if used properly. But it must be emphasized this is not a command we receive from the Bible. The Bible told us to join the New Covenant. If you are observing any kind of "Sabbath", then that is a command you got form your church not your Bible. Respect your faith tradition, but be honest about it.
I know there are other justifications besides this "test Commandment" claim. I know someone out there would like me to consider the rest of their points. I can feel someone itching to tell me about, "If you love me, keep my Ten Commandments." I assure you, I have considered all of these things. I lived them and preached them for 30+ years of my life. I am not going to thoroughly explore all Sabbatarianism here in one post. Instead, I refer you to our other posts, such as "If You Love Me, Keep My Commandments", "Are The Ten Commandments Removed?", "Confusing the Covenants", and "Common Legalist Arguments". (See the Categories page for even more.)
So, no, the idea that the Sabbath is a "Test Commandment" is not biblical. The Sabbath is not, a peculiar and unique test of loyalty to see if we will respect the command of our Creator and honor Him as our sovereign. It is not a test over and above anything else. This "test commandment" line is a self-justification, made by Sabbatarians to reassure Sabbatarians. It's an excuse made up to compensate for the lack of anything truly solid. It comes packaged with some fear. "You don't want to fail the test of loyalty, do you? Well, come to my church and give my Minister your money!" Yeah. I'll pass, thanks. I'll focus on Jesus and follow the New Covenant.
Listen, if you want to be disloyal, take Jesus out of the center focus. If you want to fail a test, leave the New Covenant for some other covenant. That will fail you real good.
So, of the two, Chap #1 is the more convincing to me.
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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