Expert: Dr Don Howe - 9/3/2008

Question
Is it not true that by not keeping the Sabbath day Holy we make the law of GOD void, and by doing this we also then break all ten commandmends. God created the Sabbath day for us and we go ahead and change it to another day.Is it not true that the bible says that we will keep sabbath also in Heaven.

Answer
   Andre, thank you for your questions. You ask “Is it not true that by not keeping the Sabbath day Holy we make the law of GOD void, and by doing this we also then break all ten commandmends.”  The answer is No. Jesus came to fulfill the Law including every Jot and tittle. Matt. 5:18 Jesus says “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” But this does not nullify the ten commandments of God.
   I do not know why so many people get so hung up on the Sabbath or why we worship on Saturday or Sunday. Some people worship on the Sabbath that is okay, some people worship on Sunday that is okay, some people worship on Saturday night that is okay,  and still others worship on some other day that is okay. God does not care what day of the week of we worship him but He does expect us to worship him and glorify what Jesus did on the cross. But some religious leaders and religions try to force us out of traditions of men to worship on certain days, and the Holy Word of God says to beware of these type of people.  Paul tells us not to be fooled by philosophies and traditions of men in Col. 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Spoil in the Greek is sylagōgeō which means to lead away from the truth and subject to one's sway. Paul is saying beware of any man who leads you away from the truth and subject’s you to his way only with vain deceit, rudiments of the world, AND TRADITIONS OF MEN. So if one says we have to worship on the Sabbath, or Sunday or any other day, Paul is saying they are trying to lead us away from the truth, and trying to get to follow the TRADITIONS OF MEN and not Scripture.
  Paul goes on further in Colossians 2:16 let no man is to judge us on what day of the week we worship “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days].” Because Jesus won such a glorious victory on the cross, we are to let no one judge you in food or in drink or in other matters related to legalism. A life that is centered on Jesus and what He did on the cross has no place for legalism or as previously stated by Paul in Col. 2:8 traditions of men. Judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]: The Old Testament law had certain provisions that are done away with in Jesus, regarding such things as food and sabbaths. It isn’t that those laws were bad, simply that they were a shadow of things to come. Once the substance - Jesus Christ - has come, we don’t need to shadow any more.
  Andre, you ask also “it not true that the bible says that we will keep sabbath also in Heaven.” No it does not. You may be referring to Isa. 66:22-23 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, [that] from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.” Isaiah is saying just as God will create a new heaven and new earth, which will be at the end of the 1000 yr millennial reign, and the seed of Israel will remain and worship the LORD GOD. Isaiah is being metaphorical in that JUST AS there will be one Sabbath to another, one new moon to another, so shall there be one people (who will the saints in New Heaven) who will worship before the LORD. This does not mean there will be a Sabbath in Heaven. Why would there be. We are all going to be with the LORD in the new Heaven and New Jerusalem worshiping 24/7 singing “holy, holy is he,” so there is no need for a Sabbath. Another point “one new moon to another” can not be referring to Heaven as there has to be night to see a moon, and Revelation says there is no night in heaven. Rev. 21: 23; 22:5.
Blessings.

Dr. Don Howe, RN, PhD, ThD.