Do Christians Have to Keep the Biblical Feasts?
Do Christians Have to Keep the Biblical Feasts?
In short
Believers who love the same Bible disagree on this. Oak Stone Christian Church keeps the biblical feasts because Leviticus 23:2 calls them God’s, the pattern predates Israel in Genesis 1 and 2, the prophets describe them in the future, and each one points to Christ. The strongest objection is Colossians 2:16-17, which deserves a straight reading in context. What is not in dispute: no observance saves anyone (Ephesians 2:8-9), and the calendar cannot be the test of who is in and who is out.
This question tends to get a defensive answer from whichever side is answering it, and that is a shame, because it is a fair question. Most people asking it are not trying to start an argument. They are trying to understand what Scripture actually says and get it right.
Here is the straightforward answer: believers who love the same Bible come to different conclusions on this. What follows is why our congregation reads it the way we do, what I think is the strongest objection to that position, and one thing that should not be in dispute at all.
The case for keeping them
For me, the case rests on four basic observations. None of them require some novel interpretation of Scripture.
-
1
The days are called God’s. Leviticus 23:2 calls them “My appointed times,” and that language continues throughout the chapter. The text does not introduce them simply as Israel’s national holidays or cultural traditions. God calls them His.
-
2
The pattern predates Israel. Genesis 1:14 uses the Hebrew word mo’ed, appointed time, for what the sun and moon were created to mark. Genesis 2:3 records God blessing and setting apart the seventh day at creation, long before there was a nation of Israel or a Sinai covenant.
-
3
They are spoken of in the future tense. Isaiah 66:23 describes worship “from new moon to new moon” and “from Sabbath to Sabbath.” Zechariah 14:16-19 describes the nations going up year after year to keep the Feast of Tabernacles after the return of the King.
-
4
The days point to Jesus. Passover points to the Lamb. Firstfruits points to the resurrection. Pentecost points to the giving of the Spirit. Atonement points us toward the High Priest who entered once for all. That connection between the biblical feasts and the work of Christ is not unique to our congregation. Christians and Bible teachers from all kinds of traditions have recognized it for a very long time.
The full list of what Leviticus 23 sets out is in What Does Leviticus 23 Actually List? and what each day points to is in What Makes a Day Holy?.
The strongest objection
Colossians 2:16-17. And it deserves a straight answer, not a dodge.
“Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
Colossians 2:16-17
Read one way, that settles the issue: these things were shadows, Christ has come, and Christians are no longer obligated to observe them. Read another way, Paul is telling a congregation already familiar with these practices not to let outsiders judge them over food, festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths. On that reading, calling them shadows does not make them meaningless.
A shadow exists because something real is casting it.
That is one of the places where careful readers genuinely come to different conclusions. So read the passage in context. Do not build your whole theology on half of one sentence. And be careful with arguments from silence: “Jesus never explicitly prohibited this,” or “Jesus never explicitly commanded that.” That can become a very shaky place to build doctrine.
What is not in dispute
No observance saves anybody. Not one.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
Abraham had an incredible record of obedience, and Paul still says his obedience purchased nothing. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3).
So say it plainly. Keeping the Sabbath does not earn salvation. Keeping the holy days does not earn salvation. Moving from a Sunday congregation to a Saturday congregation is not a salvation event. If somebody tells you otherwise, they have wandered away from the text.
And that also means this cannot become our test for deciding who is in and who is out. Unity in love matters more than unity on the calendar.
So how should you decide?
Take the question to God before you take it to an argument. If you are not convinced these days are for you, that is an honest place to be. Start there. Then read Leviticus 23 and Colossians 2 all the way through, preferably in one sitting, instead of trading isolated verses back and forth.
And before you ask, “Do I have to keep these days?” ask, “Why are these days here?” Ask what they point to. Ask what God was teaching through them. Ask what they reveal about Christ. Because understanding the why will teach you a lot more than simply getting a ruling on the have to.
And if you want to know what observing them actually looks like, come spend time with people who do it. Sit with us. Ask your questions out loud. You do not have to agree with us before you walk through the door.
One question worth sitting with
If it turned out these days were still His, and you had simply never been told, would you want to know?
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Christians have to keep the biblical feasts?
Believers disagree on that question. Oak Stone Christian Church teaches that these days belong to God and continue to carry meaning, pointing to passages such as Leviticus 23:2, Isaiah 66:23, and Zechariah 14. Other Christians understand Colossians 2:16-17 as removing any obligation to observe them. What should not be disputed is that keeping them does not save anyone.
What does Colossians 2:16 mean?
Paul tells the Colossians not to let anyone “pass judgment” on them regarding festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths, and he calls these things “a shadow of the things to come,” with the substance belonging to Christ. The disagreement is over what Paul intends by that. Some understand him to be saying that these practices have served their purpose and are no longer required. A stronger reading is that Paul was instructing the believers in Colossae, surrounded by pagans and pagan worship, not to let others judge them for the holy days of the Lord they were now celebrating. The surrounding context matters.
Do the feasts save you?
No. Ephesians 2:8-9 says salvation is by grace through faith, “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Romans 4:3 makes the same point with Abraham: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Obedience is the response to salvation. It is not the purchase price.
Is keeping the feasts legalism?
It certainly can become legalism, just like plenty of other good things can. It becomes legalism when the how replaces the why, when obedience becomes a source of righteousness, or when someone’s observance becomes the test of whether they stand rightly before God. But obeying something because you believe God asked you to do it is not, by itself, legalism. That is simply obedience.
Why do some churches keep the feasts and others do not?
Because Christians read several key passages differently, particularly Colossians 2 and passages dealing with the relationship between the covenants. The disagreement is not new, and serious believers who care deeply about Scripture can be found on both sides of it.
Keep going
This post comes from an Oak Stone sermon.
Justin Glasgow works through more of this subject than there was room to cover here. Oak Stone Christian Church meets in Allen, Texas, and you do not need to have all of this figured out before you walk through the door. Nobody here does.