I’ve been breaking the Sabbath
Question:
I'm kind of in a tough situation and I need some help with this.
I have a bad sin. It's the breaking of the Sabbath. "Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking them all. For the same one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Even if you do not commit adultery, you have become a lawbreaker if you commit murder" (James 2:10-26).
So I can't teach others to keep the commandments because that would be hypocrisy if I don't keep them. "Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:19).
So if I am in sin, I won't be able to get closer to God since God hates sin. Technically all my endeavors to get closer would be useless. I won't make it to heaven
What should I do? I'm young and still live with my parents. My mom makes me work on the Sabbath. She gets mad if I disobey and threatens to hit me. They also don't keep the Sabbath.
Answer:
There are several problems with your complaint. The Sabbath laws were for the Jews living under the Law of Moses. Christians live under the Law of Christ. Christ's laws do not include the keeping of the Sabbath. "Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day -- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ" (Colossians 2:16-17). See The Sabbath Was Saturday, Not Sunday.
It is true that you cannot keep portions of God's laws that you like and skip the rest. Obedience requires keeping all of the laws. James brought this up because some thought treating rich brethren better than poor brethren was not a major problem (James 2:1-13). That is a common problem. We tend to rate commands and think that skipping commands we deem minor is fine with God. However, in this case, you have applied this to a command that was not given to Christians.
In Matthew 5:19, Jesus told his audience that even though the Law of Moses was about to be replaced, the Law still had to be followed until it was actually finished. Encouraging other people not to keep a law is just as wrong as you not keeping the same law. This is not the situation in your case. You are not encouraging anyone not to keep God's Law. What you have been doing is trying to apply a law to yourself that God hasn't asked of you or any other Christian.
What you need to do is learn more about what God has taught. You seem to have started well, but you need to dig a bit deeper. Don't be hard on yourself. God is not looking for perfection. He is looking for people who sincerely try hard to please Him. We all mess up at times (I John 1:8-2:1), but when we realize we are off-track, we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and make changes in our behavior.
