SIN AND THE SABBATH by Geo. A. Snyder

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 31, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 44.

SIN AND THE SABBATH.

By Geo. A. Snyder

THE second chapter of Genesis records the institution of the Sabbath, and the third chapter describes the manner in which the human race was brought into the condition of sin. Thus the Sabbath was instituted before sin entered the human heart. After sin had entered, there was revealed to man the remedial system of the Gospel; and those who accepted that system expressed their faith by offering sacrifices which pointed forward to the sacrifice of “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Thus we see that the whole sacrificial system grew out of the condition of sin, and pointed forward to the One who was to take away that condition.

During the Levitical age many annual sabbaths were observed in connection with the typical service. See Leviticus 23. In the third verse of this chapter the weekly Sabbath is spoken of as the Sabbath of the Lord. Then follows an enumeration of the annual sabbaths. These were to be observed “beside the Sabbaths of the Lord.” Verse 38. Thus we see that the observance of the weekly Sabbath was separate and distinct from those annual, typical sabbaths which were a part of the sacrificial system growing out of the condition of sin, and pointing to the Saviour.

Now it is self-evident that the whole system of shadows must pass away when the great Sacrifice which is foreshadowed was made on Calvary. This passing out of shadow into sunshine was signalized by the rending of the vail of the temple when Jesus hung on the cross. The crimson tide which takes away the condition of sin, is now flowing. The vail of sin separating between man and God was rent asunder on Calvary, and by faith we may now “enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, . . . through the vail, that is to say, His flesh.” Heb. 10:19, 20.

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Col. 2:16, 17.

The above scripture clearly shows that all those meats and drinks, holy days and sabbaths which were observed in the shadow of the cross, vanished away, with the system of which they were a part, when the Sun rose on Calvary. Every soul who fully accepts the great Offering there manifested, is emancipated from that condition of sin out of which the typical service grew, and is therefore no longer subject to any of its requirements.

The observance of the weekly Sabbath rests upon a basis entirely different from that of the annual sabbaths. Instead of growing out of the condition of sin, the weekly Sabbath was ordained as a memorial of God’s creative power before man sinned. And when sin is banished from the heart, and the soul is born again, or re-created, the Sabbath remains as the memorial of the creation of a new heart. The reason assigned in the fourth commandment for Sabbath observance is that all things were made by creative power; and the more we see and know of that power in our own hearts, the greater reason we have for Sabbath observance. Those who have no experimental knowledge of the operation of divine power in the creating of a new heart, can not truly keep the Sabbath, or obey any other precept of God’s law; for says the apostle, “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8:7.

From the above scripture it is evident that sin and true Sabbath observance can not dwell together in the same heart. It is also evident that any effort to compel sinners to observe the Sabbath is an attempt to force them to do that which God has declared to be impossible. Those who are seeking to enforce the observance of the first day of the week by civil law, show that they have a mistaken idea of the nature of true Sabbath observance. It is impossible to enforce real Sabbath observance even on the real Sabbath; but to enforce Sabbath observance on Sunday is absurdly impossible.

We have seen, then, that the sacrificial system, with all its annual sabbaths and holy days, grew out of sin, and foreshadowed the great Sacrifice which takes away that sin, and that when Christ died on Calvary, all those shadowy ordinances necessarily passed away, because there was no longer any reason for their existence. We have also seen that the weekly Sabbath was ordained as a memorial of God’s creative power before the advent of sin into the human heart; and that after sin has been eradicated from the heart by that same power, through faith in the blood of Jesus, there is a re-creation, and the reason for Sabbath observance is stronger than ever.

The Sabbath rests on the eternal rock of truth, whose summit is kissed by the sunlight of Calvary, and we shall see that it will outlive all the time-serving structures built on the sands of error, and tower above the wrecks of time after the foul miasma of sin has been fully eradicated from the universe.

GEO. A. SNYDER.