Sabbath Summary

The Sabbath. Sabbath (from whence we get the word sabbatical) means rest, and the rest for the people of God under the Mosaic Law was a day of the week, namely, the last day, or Saturday, because of our Creator’s rest on the seventh day of creation. (There was also a Sabbath year.) In keeping with its meaning, this day (along with the Sabbath year) was designated for national Israel (as a sign of the covenant) not as a day for worship per se, but for rest. I believe that rest was a shadow of, and completely fulfilled in Jesus Christ Who, in the New and better Covenant, is Himself the Rest (the Christian’s Sabbath) for the souls of those who have ceased from their religious efforts to obtain right standing with God, to rely on Christ’s finished work in their stead. Our Sabbath is not a day but a Person. With Jesus and not a day as my Sabbath, I do not “keep” any day of the week, but I do faithfully assemble with the local fellowship of Believers on Sundays and other appointed times, not because of the Fourth Commandment, but because of the example set by the Apostles, and because of the significance of Christ’s resurrection which He chose to execute on the first day of the week. Our Lord declared “Man was not made for the Sabbath.” To the Christian, there are no special holy days. Resting in God’s provision—not worshipping on Sunday (as good as that is)—is that eternal, moral, principle foreshadowed in the Fourth Commandment. http://www.migliacci.com/Statement_of_Faith-extended-09-11-15.pdf