CHRIST OUR TRUE REST (Or, “Should Christians Keep the Sabbath?)

There are few subjects more often misunderstood than the Sabbath. Many still imagine that to please God, one must simply attend worship on Saturday, as though this fulfills the ancient command to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). But when we look closer into the law itself, we find that the Sabbath was far more than a weekly observance. It was an entire system of rest woven into the fabric of Israel’s life—a shadow of a greater rest to come in Christ.

The law of Moses commanded not only a seventh-day rest, but also a seventh-year Sabbath, when the land itself would lie inactive (Leviticus 25:4). Every fiftieth year was the Jubilee, a great Sabbath of release when debts were forgiven and slaves set free (Leviticus 25:10). The Sabbath, then, was not merely about one day each week, but about the rhythm of redemption—the promise of restoration, rest, and freedom that only God could give.

To “keep the Sabbath” in the Old Testament sense meant far more than refraining from labor. It required strict sacrifices, precise offerings, and ceremonial purity (Numbers 28:9–10). If one seeks to be justified by observing any part of that law, he must accept all of it. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). To choose one commandment from that covenant and neglect the others is to misunderstand the very nature of the covenant itself.

The apostle Paul wrote that the law was “our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The Sabbath, with all its rest and renewal, pointed forward to the true rest found only in Jesus Christ. He Himself declared, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Christ did not abolish rest—He fulfilled it. He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28), and in Him every believer finds the peace that the Sabbath prefigured.

Those who seek to bind others to the Old Testament Sabbath forget that the covenant written on stone has been taken away in Christ. Paul told the Colossians, “Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16–17). The shadow has passed because the Light has come.

In Christ, there are no sacred calendars or holy seasons that make us righteous. “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind” (Romans 14:5). The early Christians gathered on the first day of the week—not as a new Sabbath, but as a joyful remembrance of the risen Lord (Acts 20:7). Sunday is not a “Christian Sabbath.” It is simply the day believers chose to assemble in freedom, celebrating the victory of grace.

We cannot pick and choose which parts of the Mosaic law to keep. The moment one places himself under the law, he is bound by all of it. “You who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). But praise be to God, we are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:14). The Sabbath rest has found its completion in the pierced hands of Jesus. On the cross, He cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30), and the old covenant gave way to the new.

So now, our rest is not in a day, but in a Person. Our worship is not tied to a temple, but to a Savior. Every day is holy when the heart is devoted to Christ. Every moment can be worship when life is yielded to His Spirit. We do not labor to enter His rest—we rest because He has labored for us.

The old Sabbaths spoke of release, forgiveness, and restoration. In Jesus, those promises have come true. He is our Jubilee, our Sabbath, our Rest. When we abide in Him, the weary soul finds peace at last.

“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:9–10). That is all about Jesus.

Lord, teach me to rest, not in a day, but in Your grace. Keep me from the bondage of old shadows, and let me live in the light of Your finished work. May every day be Yours, and every breath be worship to the One who fulfilled the law and gave me rest for my soul.

Amen.

Bryan Dewayne Dunaway