SDA: What is the Seal of God?

I was watching an Adventist program in which the speaker was discussing Sabbath Keeping. I understand that the SDA claims that the Sabbath is the Seal of God mentioned in the book of Revelation in the Bible. SDA seems to be stating that during the End Times only those who keep the Sabbath will be sealed as God’s people. This immediately narrows the number of Christians throughout the Church Age who are actually Christian, and will be saved to eternal life, to only those who keep the Sabbath on Saturday.

This brings up an interesting question: “If only those who keep the Sabbath can enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” then why did Jesus say “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me?” Surely these two statements are mutually exclusive. Both cannot be true rather one must be true and the other false. We either enter the Kingdom of Heaven because we keep the Sabbath or we enter the Kingdom because Jesus gave His life on the Cross that He might be the perfect sacrifice and that through His shed blood our sin debt might be paid. So is keeping the Sabbath or dealing with Sin is the issue here?

Another way to look at this conundrum is that it is a question of which covenant we are keeping. If keeping the Sabbath as what seals us to God then the Covenant of the Law is the one we are keeping. If salvation from Sin through the shed blood of the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, is what seals us to God then the New Covenant is the one we are keeping (Luke 22:20). So are we still under the law or are we set free from the law in Jesus Christ? Are we still dead in our sins or are we set free from sin unto eternal life in Christ Jesus?

Another way to look at this problem is this. Sabbath Keeping is covered under the Fourth Commandment. The first four commandments are covered by the Great Commandment. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart; With all of your Soul; With all of your mind; With all of your Strength. So in loving the Lord your God you keep the Sabbath. This is what Jesus said and He was a Jew speaking to the Jews so they were in accord on this matter. Given that we are not Jews, but Gentiles, are we bound by the Law of Moses or are we set free from the Law in Christ Jesus? Such that we don’t have to keep the Sabbath.

In James 2:10 we read “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” So if we fail to keep the Sabbath or any law we are guilty of all of the Law. In Romans 6:23 we read the “The Wages of Sin is Death.” So if we stumble in relation to any law the penalty due is death. How can we avoid this? John 1:7 says this “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” We are set free from the penalty of the Law in Christ Jesus.

If we are guilty of not keeping the Sabbath are we not unrepentant? I cannot answer for God here. I can only give my opinion. Most gentile Christians in the Western World would say that Sunday is the Sabbath. Few would realise that Saturday is the Sabbath and that Sunday is the first day of the Roman week. I would argue that if you are unaware that you are not keeping the Sabbath then you know no better and are not guilty of breaking the Law. Those few of us who know that we keep a different day as Sabbath, would say that as gentiles we are not Jews and that in Christ Jesus we are free to keep a different day. I believe this was the stance that the apostle Paul held too. Romans 14:5 “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Galatians 5: 13-15 puts it this way “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

So, does the SDA have a point about keeping the Saturday Sabbath? In as much as the Sabbath is on a Saturday in Judaism. Yes they do. Does this mean the Church should adopt the Saturday Sabbath and surrender the Sunday worship? I don’t believe so. The Church in the Church Age is set aside as the Bride of Christ. We are not inherently Jewish but mostly from gentile stock. Through Jesus Christ the gospel was made open to all of the nations that in being convicted of our sins we might repent and be baptised in His name. At the end of the Church Age the baton will be handed back to Israel and the Messianic Christians will be Jewish and keep the Saturday Sabbath as they do now.

Another way to look at this problem is like this. When the apostles shared the gospel with the lost, what was the gospel that they shared? Did they say “ Repent and Keep the Law especially the Sabbath and you shall be saved?” By no means they shared this gospel. “Repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and to receive the Holy Spirit.” In Christ our sins are forgiven and we receive the Holy Spirit who writes the Law of God on our hearts and puts it into our minds. Thus as Christians we keep the Law often without realising it as the Holy Spirit reveals the nature of Jesus Christ in us.

Is the Keeping of the Sabbath the Seal of God. No, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the Seal of God. It always has been and it always will be. Acts 2:38 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.