TEACHING ON SABBATH — By Apostle Howard Tundu
Many people struggle to distinguish between the Law of Moses (the Mosaic Law) and the Law of Christ (the Law of Christ or the Law of Love). Those who insist on Sabbath keeping take every verse that says "keep My commandments" while assuming that this refers to the Ten Commandments and the keeping of Saturday, or other laws that belonged to the Old Covenant. This full study shows how the commandments referred to in the New Testament differ completely from the Mosaic system, and why the Sabbath was a shadow pointing to Christ.
1. Understanding New Testament "Commandments"
In 1 John 5:3 the Scripture says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." And Revelation 22:14 says, "Blessed are they that do His commandments…"
But which commandments? John himself defines the commandment in 1 John 3:23:
"And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another."
Therefore, in the New Covenant, the commandment we keep is faith in Christ and love for one another, not the Mosaic regulations, Sabbath days, or dietary laws.
Romans 13:8–10 confirms this by showing that love fulfils the entire law.
Thus, the things that keep a person out of heaven today are clearly listed—not Sabbath violations, but the works of the flesh.
2. What Actually Keeps People Out of Heaven
Galatians 5:19–21 lists the works of the flesh:
• Adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness, Lasciviousnes, Idolatry, Witchcraft, Hatred, Variance, Emulations, Wrath, Strife, Seditions, Heresies, Envyings, Murders, Drunkenness, Revellings.
Paul warns plainly: "they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Sabbath keeping is not mentioned because it is not a salvation issue in the New Covenant.
Jesus Himself taught the same in Mark 7:18–23. He declared all foods clean and said that the things entering a man do not defile him, but what comes out of the heart- evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, covetousness, pride, and such things. These are what defile a person, not the breaking of ceremonial laws.
3. Why the Mosaic Law Is Not the Law of the New Covenant
There is a major difference between the "letter written on stone" and the law of the Spirit written on the heart. Romans 7:12 says the law is holy, but Paul also teaches that its purpose was to reveal sin, not to save us. It was a mirror.
Romans 8 explains that even though the law was good, it was weak through the flesh, so Christ fulfilled it. Romans 10:4 declares: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
Galatians 3:23–25 teaches it even more clearly:
• Before faith came, we were kept under the law. • The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. • But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
In the same chapter (Galatians 3:26–28), Paul states that in Christ there is no Jew nor Greek-meaning no ethnic or covenantal distinctions. The Old Covenant identity markers, including Sabbath observance, no longer define the people of God.
Hebrews 8:10–13 confirms that the Old Covenant has become obsolete and vanished away.
4. Why Sabbath Keeping Is No Longer Required
A. The Sabbath was a sign between God and Israel
Ezekiel 20:12 (KJV) says:
"Moreover also I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them…"
A sign is a covenant marker. In the Old Testament, covenant signs included:
• Circumcision • Priestly garments • Feasts • Dietary laws • Sabbaths
These were ceremonial identifiers given only to Israel, not the world and not the church. Signs are temporary shadows.
Paul affirms this in Colossians 2:16–17:
"Let no man therefore judge you… of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."
A shadow disappears when the real thing (Christ) arrives.
B. Creation Sabbath was never a law for mankind
In Genesis 2:2–3 God rested on the seventh day, but:
• God never commanded Adam or humanity to keep a sabbath day. • God's rest was not due to fatigue, but completion. • The day was never called "Saturday" then; it was simply the seventh day of creation. • The Sabbath law appears for the first time in Exodus, 2,500 years after creation.
It was not a universal law, but a prophetic shadow of rest in Christ.
C. The Sabbath was given only to Israel
Deuteronomy 5:15 explains that the Sabbath was given as a memorial that Israel was delivered from Egypt. Gentiles were never slaves in Egypt; therefore, the Sabbath commandment was not for them.
5. Why We Do Not Keep the Sabbath Under the New Covenant
Galatians and Colossians are the clearest books explaining this.
A. The Sabbath was a shadow
Colossians 2:16–17 says Sabbath days were a shadow. You do not cling to a shadow when the substance (Christ) is present.
B. Returning to days is going backward
Galatians 4:10–11 shows Paul's disappointment with believers who return to observing days, months, seasons, and years. He fears his labour was wasted on them.
C. The law written on stone has ended
2 Corinthians 3:7–11 says:
• The ministry written on stones (the Ten Commandments) was a ministry of death. • It had glory, but it was fading and was to be done away. • The ministry of the Spirit has far more glory and surpasses the old. • What was fading has been replaced by what remains.
This includes the fourth commandment, which was written on stone.
6. Why Paul Appeared in Synagogues on the Sabbath
Some argue that Paul kept the Sabbath because he went to the synagogue on that day. But in reality:
• Synagogues were full on Sabbaths, so it was a strategic evangelism opportunity. • Paul said he became "as a Jew" to win the Jews (1 Cor 9:20). • He was not keeping the Sabbath as a law but preaching Christ where people were gathered.
7. Jesus' Teaching on the Sabbath
Jesus made several critical statements:
• "The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:8). • "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27). • "Come unto Me… and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
Christ Himself becomes our rest, not a day of the week.
8. Hebrews 4 — Christ Is Our True Sabbath
Hebrews 4 explains:
• A rest still exists for the people of God- but it is entering into Christ, not observing a calendar day. • Those who enter God's rest cease from their own works just as God did from His. • This is not resting from physical labour, but resting from trying to earn salvation through law keeping.
The weekly Sabbath was a prophetic picture of the spiritual rest Christ provides.
9. The Early Church Did Not Keep the Sabbath
Acts 5:42 shows believers meeting daily in the temple and in homes- worship was not tied to one day.
Acts 20:7 records believers gathering on the first day of the week (Sunday).
1 Corinthians 16:2 also shows offerings collected on the first day of the week.
Sunday was never stated as a law but became a natural gathering day because Jesus rose on that day.
Revelation 1:10 refers to "the Lord's Day," which early believers used to describe the day of Christ's resurrection, not the Jewish Sabbath.
10. Acts 15 — The Jerusalem Council Settles the Matter
Certain Jewish believers insisted that Gentiles must obey the Law of Moses, including circumcision (which implied all Mosaic laws, including Sabbath). But the apostles met and concluded:
• The Law of Moses was a yoke the Jews themselves could not bear. • The Holy Spirit directed them not to impose the Mosaic law on Gentile believers. • They wrote a letter requiring Gentiles to keep only four things: o Avoid food offered to idols o Avoid blood o Avoid things strangled o Avoid fornication
The Sabbath was not included.
If Sabbath keeping was required, the apostles would have listed it.
11. Why Some Groups Still Insist on Sabbath Keeping
A. Failure to distinguish between the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses
They believe that because "do not steal" and "do not commit adultery" still apply morally, the Sabbath must also still apply. However:
• 2 Corinthians 3 shows the entire "ministry written on stones" is fading and replaced. • The moral content of the law is rewritten into the heart by the Spirit. • The ceremonial sign, which is the Sabbath, is not.
B. Misunderstanding shadow vs. substance
The Sabbath was a shadow (Col 2:16–17). Clinging to the shadow ignores the real substance: Christ. Noone should be judged for not observing a shadow as per scripture given.
C. Fear based teachings about the "Mark of the Beast"
Some say Sunday worship is the mark of the beast, and Sabbath keeping is the "seal of God." But Ephesians 1:13 teaches that the Holy Spirit is the seal of God, not a day of the week.
D. Misuse of history regarding Constantine
Some claim Constantine changed the Sabbath to Sunday in 321 AD. Even if he made a civil law, the church was already gathering on Sundays long before he was born (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2).
12. Conclusion
• The Sabbath was a sign between God and Israel, not the world (Ezekiel 20:12). • It was a shadow pointing to the rest found in Christ. • The law written on stone, including the Sabbath command, was a temporary ministry that has passed away (2 Cor 3:7–11). • Christ is the end of the law for righteousness (Rom 10:4). • Believers walk by the Spirit, not by the letter. • Salvation and Christian life are defined by faith and love, not by Sabbath observance.
Therefore, under the New Covenant, Christ Himself is our Sabbath, and the believer lives in continual spiritual rest in Him.