Gospel Sabbath? Nowhere is the confusion of law and gospel more subtly entrenched than in the reformed attempt to repackage the Jewish Sabbath into a “Christian Sabbath” on the first day of the week. Though well meaning, this tradition has no command, no apostolic institution, and no new testament example to justify it. The resurrection of Christ transformed the first day into a day of gathered worship and gospel joy, but never into a day of legal obligation. To speak of a “Christian Sabbath” is to blur the line between shadow and substance, law and liberty. Galatians 5:1. This hybrid construct neither honors the typology of the Sabbath nor the finality of Christ’s finished work. It trades the ceremony of the seventh day for a moralized version of the first, and in so doing, it declares, however unintentionally, that the rest Christ gives is not enough, and in so doing, it subtly shifts the believer’s rest from Christ’s finished work to man’s continued effort. Galatians 3:3. Paul warned against this very error when he wrote, “ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.” Galatians 4:10-11. The Sabbath was a shadow, a sign pointing forward to the true rest found in Christ. Hebrews 4:9-10. What was once a day is now a Person. Matthew 11:28-30. In gospel terms, this rest is not found in observing a day but in ceasing from all efforts to justify ourselves before God. It’s not about laying aside our tool belt, but laying aside our self-righteousness. Christ is our Sabbath, our rest, our righteousness. Colossians 2:16-17. MPJ